The
13th Liaoning snow and ice hot spring tourism promotion
season was launched in Bayuquan District On the evening of January 14th, the 13th Liaoning snow
and ice hot spring tourism promotion season launching
ceremony and Liaoning four seasons tourism promotion film
launching ceremony was held in Bayuquan District Honghai
river snow and ice carnival.Yu Gongbin, deputy secretary of
the CPC Yingkou committee and mayorof Yingkou municipal
government, Wang Xiaojiang, deputy director of the
provincial department of culture and tourism, Zhong Weiliang,
chairman of the provincial tourism investment group, Ji
Zhaohui and Fang Jingguang, city leaders attended the
opening ceremony.Jan.17,2019

Free
trade port efforts gain traction

China will step up efforts to accelerate free trade port
construction this year, a further step to build on the
success of free trade zones across the country, the Ministry
of Commerce said.

Assistant Minister of Commerce Ren Hongbin said one of the
ministry¡¯s priorities in 2019 is to advance the building of
free trade zones and explore steps to construct free trade
ports in China.

The ministry will draw on international experience and come
up with policies and institutional systems for building free
trade ports ¡°as soon as possible¡±, Ren said at a news
conference on Jan 16.

Free trade ports are regarded as the world¡¯s most open form
of economic zone, which has brought prosperity to places
such as Singapore thanks to broad-based preferential
policies on trade and investment.

It is open to all commercial vessels on equal terms. Goods
may be unloaded, stored and shipped without the payment of
customs duties.

According to last year¡¯s government guidelines, a free trade
port system will be ¡°basically established¡± in Hainan by
2025. Last April, China announced it would develop the
island into a pilot free trade zone, through which Hainan
will be granted more capacity to reform, and speed up the
fostering of a law-based, international, and convenient
business environment.

Zhao Ping, a senior researcher at the China Council for the
Promotion of International Trade Academy, said: ¡°It is
necessary to create a high-tech talent pool to help to speed
up the pace of transforming Hainan into a free port. Key
focus areas would include shipping, logistics and finance,
so talent in these sectors should be valued.¡±

Sang Baichuan, a professor at the University of
International Business and Economics, said specially
tailored policies are also needed in terms of market access,
financial systems and taxation.

Tianjin, a coastal city in northern China, plans to apply
for the establishment of a free trade port, which can
further integrate the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei
region, said the administration of China (Tianjin) Pilot
Free Trade Zone. In a recent emailed interview with China
Daily, the administration revealed that the construction
plan will be submitted to the higher authorities ¡°in due
course¡±.

About five years ago, China set up its first FTZ in Shanghai
as a way to promote trade and investment. Since then, pilot
FTZs have sprung up across the country. In all, 12 have been
built or planned.

Ren said in 2019, the ministry will support Shanghai to
boldly innovate in facilitating investment and trade.

The ministry will further reduce the negative list for
foreign investment access in the pilot FTZs, and accelerate
the further opening of key areas such as medical care and
education, Ren said. Jan.16,2019 from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Larger-scale
tax cuts to be introduced for small, micro businesses

China will unveil larger-scale tax cuts and tax
exemptions for micro and small enterprises (MSEs), a State
Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang
decided on Jan 9.

Further tax and fee cuts reflect intensified implementation
of the proactive fiscal policy and are an important step in
deepening supply-side reform. At the annual Central Economic
Work Conference held in December 2018, President Xi Jinping
stressed the need to introduce tax and fee cuts on a larger
scale and more inclusive tax breaks for MSEs. Premier Li
Keqiang said at the conference that MSEs, as major job
creators, should be given priority in such tax cuts.

Reducing tax burdens for MSEs has been on the agenda of the
State Council¡¯s executive meetings four times throughout
2018. Statistics from tax authorities show that from January
to November 2018, tax cuts for MSEs totaled 184 billion yuan
($27 billion). These tax cuts have helped to lower the cost
of entrepreneurship and innovation and help businesses gain
vitality, create more jobs and ease their financing woes.

¡°Amid increasing downward pressure, it is essential to
introduce tax and fee cuts for small and micro firms, as
this will be conducive to boosting employment and shoring up
private businesses at the same time,¡± Premier Li said.

The meeting rolled out a host of inclusive tax breaks for
MSEs. The eligibility of small and low-profit businesses to
benefit from preferential corporate tax will be
significantly expanded, and deeper cuts on corporate tax
will be introduced. Small and low-profit businesses with an
annual taxable income of less than 1 million yuan and
between 1 million and 3 million yuan will be eligible to
have their tax calculated based on 25 percent or 50 percent
of their taxable income. This is expected to reduce tax
burdens of such enterprises to 5 percent and 10 percent. The
adjusted tax incentives are expected to cover 95 percent of
corporate tax payers, 98 percent of which will be private
businesses.

At the same time, VAT threshold on small-scale tax payers,
which mainly includes MSEs and individual businesses and
other types of individuals, will be raised from 30,000 yuan
to 100, 000 yuan of monthly sales.

Provincial-level governments will also be given the
authority to cut taxes up to 50 percent for small-scale VAT
taxpayers under several local tax items, including resources
tax, as well as education and local education surcharges.

The scope of tax incentives applied to investment in
high-tech start-ups will be expanded to give more tax breaks
to venture capital firms and angel investors investing in
these businesses.

At the same time, central government finance will provide
stronger general transfer payment to local authorities to
make up for possible funding gaps at local levels caused by
large-scale tax and fee cuts.

The tax incentives will cover all taxes incurred since Jan
1, and will be effective for a tentative three years. They
are expected to save about 200 billion yuan for small and
micro businesses every year.

¡°Since last year, the government has spent within its means
and enacted several rounds of tax incentives for small and
micro firms. The latest round of tax cuts will be the most
substantial so far, and it is also appropriately
structured,¡± Premier Li said. ¡°The government must tighten
its belt to give more benefits to businesses and energize
the market.¡±Jan.11,2019
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

The press
office of Yingkou municipal government held a press
conference. Yingkou comprehensive bonded zone has passed the
inspection, marking a new chapter of opening up and
development of Yingkou city. Jan.3,2019

China will intensify its support for the development of the
private sector, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
to boost the vitality of market entities and enhance their
confidence, an executive meeting of the State Council,
China¡¯s cabinet, decided on Dec 24. The meeting was chaired
by Premier Li Keqiang.

The growth of SMEs has been high on the Chinese government¡¯s
agenda. An array of policy incentives in the fiscal, tax,
and financial fields and in relation to the business climate
and public services has been introduced to support SME
development. These policies have paid off.

President Xi Jinping emphasized on several occasions the
need to protect the lawful rights and interests of private
enterprises. Premier Li Keqiang called for giving stronger
support to private businesses and SMEs to ease their
financing woes and promote the integrated development of
businesses of all sizes.

The private sector in China, which is mainly composed of
SMEs accounting for 90 percent of all businesses, now
contributes more than 50 percent of tax revenue, over 60
percent of GDP, more than 70 percent of technological
innovations and over 80 percent of urban employment. Private
businesses have become a key driving force for economic
growth and social progress.

¡°Intensified support for growth of the private sector,
especially SMEs, helps enhance the internal dynamism for
economic growth,¡± Premier Li said. ¡°To boost the private
sector of the economy and micro and small businesses, it is
crucial to create a level-playing field, especially in
property protection and market access for these businesses
to compete in a law-based, neutral environment.¡±

Efforts will be made to foster a fair and convenient
business environment. The views of businesses must be heeded
in deciding business-related policies, and reasonable
transition periods should be arranged. Businesses of all
sizes and all types of ownership will be treated as equals
in the tendering, land use and other respects under the
principle of competitive neutrality.

Unless otherwise stipulated, all restrictions on the minimum
registered capital and the equity structure of private firms
will be removed when the firms in question invest in
resources development, transportation and public utilities.

Stronger innovation capacity will be supported. Catalogues
of recommended products and services will be issued to help
high-tech SMEs gain better access to the market. Private
firms will also be supported in participating in the R&D of
core technologies and the formulation of national standards.

Deeper tax and fee cuts will be introduced. Financing
services will be improved. The required reserve ratio cuts
targeting inclusive finance will be refined. The re-lending
policy targeting small firms will be expanded to qualified
small and medium-sized banks and new-type internet banking.

The permitting processes for the listing of private firms
and re-finance will be accelerated. Asset management
products and insurance funds will be employed in addressing
the risks of equity ¡ª backed mortgage of listed private
firms.

The lawful rights and interests, including their safety and
property, of private entrepreneurs will be protected in
accordance with the law, the meeting on Dec 24 urged. No
government department, public institution or State-owned
enterprise should defer contractual payments owed to private
businesses.

BEIJING ¡ª Transport authorities have been told to
thoroughly prepare for the upcoming busiest travel season,
the New Year and Spring Festival holidays, according to an
official directive published on Dec 23.

Administrations of railway, highway, waterway, civil
aviation and urban public transport have been ordered to top
their capacity and prioritize migrant workers and students,
according to a directive issued by the general offices of
the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State
Council.

The transport authorities should step up efforts to crack
down upon ticket scalpers and dangerous driving and try
their best to prevent serious traffic accidents and traffic
jams, the document said.

The directive also ordered authorities of civil affairs to
take good care of disadvantaged people, commercial
departments to maintain market order, and the workplace
safety authorities and the police to look out for serious
public security accidents.

Senior officials were warned against violations of the
Party¡¯s frugality rules during the upcoming festivals, such
as spending public money on expensive dinners, handing out
and taking gifts, and holding luxury ceremonies.Dec.25,2018
, from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Premier calls for joint efforts from all countries¡°In its 40 years of reform and opening-up, China has
taken both developed and developing countries¡¯ development
as its opportunity,¡± Premier Li Keqiang said while meeting
with representatives at the third Understanding China
Conference on Dec 17.
Over the past few years, China has learned a lot while
expanding its opening-up and strengthening all-around
cooperation with other countries. And China is willing to
further expand its opening-up, and reinforce complementary
advantages with other countries, achieving common
development and prosperity, the Premier said.
Premier Li also heard speeches from former Mexican president
Ernesto Zedillo, former British prime minister Gordon Brown,
former Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former
Greek prime minister George Papandreou and former World
Trade Organization director-general Pascal Lamy, and
answered their questions.
The Understanding China Conference is an important platform
for the world to understand China¡¯s development. More than
30 former politicians, strategists, entrepreneurs and
scholars attended the conference.
The delegates shared their concerns about the current
international situation.
Zedillo said that world politics and the economy are facing
unprecedented challenges.
Schmidt called for strengthened dialogue and cooperation in
the era of globalization to make contributions to human
progress.
Brown said that countries should join hands and promote the
reform and improvement of international rules, avoiding a
lose-lose situation due to protectionism.
Achievements in world peace and poverty alleviation over the
past 70 years mainly benefited from multilateralism, free
trade and a rules-based international order, the Premier
responded. He added that the world should reinforce
multilateralism and free trade under the complicated
political and economic situation, and solve the problems
arising in globalization and world trade in light of
development.
He said it is necessary to uphold the purposes and
principles of the UN Charter, safeguard the framework and
basic rules of the WTO, and solve problems through reform,
rather than reversing globalization or even interrupting
free trade.
Reform needs joint efforts from all over the world, he
added.
China supports the reform and improvement of the WTO rules
to advance with the times, and the reform must stick to the
general direction of free trade, accommodate the concerns
and interests of all parties, defend the development rights
of developing country members, and narrow the gap between
the North and the South, the Premier said, while responding
to Lamy about how to reform the WTO.
¡°No matter what kinds of contradictions or frictions, the
basic direction of safeguarding lasting peace and common
prosperity and development of the world should not be
violated,¡± the Premier said, quoting a Chinese saying that
minor principles should be subordinated to major ones.
This basic direction is the major principle, because
everyone wants a better world, he added.
According to Zedillo, the third Understanding China
Conference was held at the right time, as China is
celebrating the 40th anniversary of its reform and
opening-up. Brown congratulated China on its great
achievements in economic development, poverty reduction and
education since the reform and opening-up policy was
adopted.
Premier Li said China has seen remarkable achievements over
the past four decades, which brought benefits to not only
the Chinese people but the world at large, and was the
result of painstaking efforts made by the Chinese people.
As it did in the past, the country¡¯s development will rely
on reform and opening-up in the future, the Premier said,
adding that China will continue to promote reform and
opening-up, and make efforts to create a level-playing field
for both domestic and foreign companies and develop an open
economy at a higher level.
China has become the second-largest economy in the world,
but its per capita income is still below the world average,
he said. According to current standards of any international
organization, China remains a developing country, which is
quite special from either a historical or a global
perspective.
¡°Development is the foundation of and key to addressing all
problems in China,¡± the Premier noted. ¡°China will continue
to pursue economic development as its central task and
properly handle its internal affairs to maintain stable
economic operation and boost high-quality development.¡±
Premier urges efforts from all countries
¡°I¡¯m paying close attention to some major economies, whose
fluctuations are never gains for the Chinese economy,¡±
Premier Li said. ¡°On the contrary, I hope other countries
could regard China¡¯s development as an opportunity.¡±
A complete global industrial chain has been formed with the
development of globalization, and it will suffer if any part
of it goes wrong, the Premier said, adding that China has
become a key part of the chain, and is providing
irreplaceable energy to it.
¡°The prosperity of human society is not a zero-sum game, but
the result of mutual development, so China is willing to
complement its advantages with other countries to achieve
win-win cooperation,¡± Premier Li added.
Responding to a question by Schmidt concerning IPR
protection, the Premier said China will further improve
related laws and regulations, strengthen the crackdown on
IPR infringement, and will never break international rules
in this field.
¡°We should continue to abide by the rules and consensuses we
made in the past, push on reform and improve the global
governance system,¡± Premier Li stressed.
Dec.21,2018 .from:english.gov.cn

China to promote competitive sports industry

The State Council released a circular to speed up
development of the competitive sports industry, in an effort
to tap consumption potential, improve livelihoods, and build
a new driver for economic growth.
According to the circular, by 2025, the scale of the
competitive sports industry will reach 2 trillion yuan, and
an industrial system with abundant products, reasonable
structure, and balanced development should be established.
A number of cities and clusters will be built for sporting
events and performances, and 100 influential sports events
will be organized.
Meanwhile, a group of competitive sports enterprises will be
supported, with 100 brands built with independent
intellectual property rights, making the industry an
important force for social and economic development.
As the circular stated, the nation will develop professional
sports, with particular emphasis on football, basketball,
volleyball, table tennis, badminton, and ice hockey.
Irrational investments and disorderly competition should be
curbed.
Top international competitions with popular brand
recognition and a wide market potential will be introduced,
and amateur sports events such as marathons, martial arts,
and outdoor sports will be supported.
As the Beijing Winter Olympics approach, ice and snow sports
will also be promoted, the circular said.
To optimize the market environment, efforts are also pledged
to reform the commercial system, cultivate independent and
legitimate industrial organizations, encourage consumption
in sports events with better fan etiquette, and promote
scientific planning and operation of sports venues.
Tourism, traffic, entertainment and other support services
are also stressed in the circular.Dec.20,2018 from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Premier Li urges easing VC firms¡¯ tax burdens

Premier Li Keqiang has called for efforts to reduce tax
burdens on individual partners of Chinese venture capital
firms at the State Council executive meeting on Dec 12.

The Premier also urged for improvements in preferential tax
policies for venture capital funds.

Following his remarks, a decision was made to introduce more
income tax incentives to promote venture capital investment
and increase support for innovation and entrepreneurship.

China¡¯s venture capital industry, ranked second in the world
in terms of scale, plays a significant role in innovation
and entrepreneurship as well as employment, and is of great
importance to capital market development, Premier Li said.

As small and micro-sized enterprises still encounter
difficulties in financing, many have received funding from
venture capital, he added.

He called for the continuing promotion of employment driven
by entrepreneurship, with more support from the government
pledged at the meeting.

Meanwhile, the market was also encouraged to play its role
to raise efficiency of innovation and entrepreneurship, and
expand employment and commercialization of research
achievements.

It was decided at the meeting that venture capital income
tax will be calculated on a single investment fund from Jan
1 next year, as 70 percent of seed investments was
considered deductible.

For individual partners, incomes from share transfer and
dividends of taxable funds will be subject to a 20 percent
individual income tax.

Venture capital firms¡¯ income tax can also be levied based
on annual incomes, and incomes of individual partners will
be subject to a progressive rate of five to 35 percent.

The policy will be in place for five years, in an effort to
reduce tax burdens for individual partners of venture
capital firms.

¡°The overall principle is to reduce tax burdens for
enterprises to send a clear signal and stable expectation to
the market,¡± Premier Li said.
Dec14,2018 .from:english.gov.cn

China grants more support to local governments with good
performance

The Chinese government will increase the number of
incentive measures to local governments scoring obvious
results in implementing major policies from 24 in 2016 to
30, according to a circular released by the State Council on
Dec 10.

Compared to the former 24 items, the government added nine
incentive measures, removed three and improved the 21
measures that remained.

Those local governments will be given priority treatment on
development projects, pilot reforms, and use of funds,
according to the circular.

Local governments with remarkable achievements in business
reform will be included in related pilot programs first, and
those largely promoting foreign trade and foreign investment
will be supported with precedence in growing bases for
foreign trade transformation and upgrade, the circular said.

Eligible projects in a provincial region, where annual
fixed-asset investment retained stable growth and investment
projects performed well within the budget of the central
government, would be granted certain investment funds within
the central budget, the circular stated.

Provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly
under the central government that performed well in fiscal
management will be given incentives to support model cities
and counties.

In provincial regions that met the annual target in
transportation construction, put in place local investment
and rolled out effective measures in bringing in private
capital, eligible local transportation construction projects
will be placed on top of the three-year rolling plan,
according to the circular.

Also, those that performed well in financial risk control,
building sound financial order and protecting financial
consumers¡¯ rights, will be given support to conduct pilot
projects in financial reform, the circular stated.

All departments are asked to put the incentive measures in
place and improve assessment of local governments¡¯ work in
inspection. Local governments that win praise are required
to build a work mechanism to implement those incentive
measures, according to the circular.Dec.13,2018
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Yingkou Area of Liaoning Free Trade Zone was commended by
State CouncilThe general office of State Council recently conducted
the fifth major inspection on the implementation of major
decisions and arrangements, and commended the typical
practices found in the inspection. Yingkou Area of Liaoning
Free Trade Zone was listed as one of the areas with
experience in continuously optimizing the business
environment through institutional innovation. Dec.7,2018,
¡¡

State Council promotes stable employment

The State Council emphasized stable employment in a
circular released on Dec 5.

The circular said that enterprises with no or few layoffs
can get back 50 percent of actual unemployment insurance
premiums paid in the previous year.

It also stated that governmental-secured financing
institutions should provide more support to small and micro
enterprises with a lower rate of security.

Self-employed entrepreneurs can apply for guaranteed loans
for entrepreneurship of up to 150,000 yuan, and small and
micro enterprises with 25 percent of their employees hired
as required by the loan could get up to 3 million yuan.

Meanwhile, authorities were urged at all levels to relax
requirements for application of guaranteed loans, the
circular said.

The State Council also encourages the establishment of
start-up incubators to provide low-cost venues, guidance and
policy support for entrepreneurs, and those that perform
well will be rewarded.

Trainee subsidies will be extended from unemployed graduates
to unemployed youth aged 16 to 24, according to the
circular.

Weak companies are encouraged to conduct on-the-job training
for employees, the circular said, adding that colleges,
vocational training institutions, and qualified enterprises
are encouraged to carry out vocational and entrepreneurship
training for the unemployed.

Those with vocational qualification certificates can apply
for skills promotion subsidies, and the condition will be
relaxed from three years payment of unemployment insurance
to one year, according to the circular.

The unemployed can register at the public employment service
agencies of their permanent residences, and enjoy local
employment and entrepreneurial services, employment support
policies, and tax incentives.

Eligible unemployed persons also can receive unemployment
insurance benefits, and laid-off workers with financial
difficulties will be offered interim living subsidies.

Local governments at all levels should play an effective
role in promoting employment in the region, the circular
said.

The circular also urged relevant departments to ramp up
publicity about the policies, optimize workflow, and
strengthen supervision, ensuring that recipients can benefit
from the policies and the funds.

The social responsibilities of enterprises also are
mentioned in the circular. Dec.5 2018, from:english.gov.cn

¡¡

China¡¯s January-October industrial profits up 13.6%

China¡¯s major industrial enterprises achieved a total
profit of 5.52 trillion yuan ($795.4 billion) from January
to October, up 13.6 percent year-on-year, data showed on Nov
27.

The figure was down 1.1 percent compared with that from
January to September and it came from weakening demand
caused by the China-US trade frictions.

¡°There are signs that overall demand is weakening. That
could lead to production decline and falling profits,¡± said
Xu Wei from Development Research Center of the State
Council.

In October alone, the total profits of China¡¯s major
industrial enterprises with annual revenue of more than 20
million yuan (about $2.89 million) increased 3.6 percent
year-on-year to reach 548.02 billion yuan ($78.97 billion),
0.5 percentage points lower than last month.

Profits of major industrial enterprises in the first ten
months registered a decrease of 1.1 percentage points
compared with last year, but remained a steady growth on the
whole, according to He Ping, from the Industrial Division of
the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Those with more new profits were heavy industries like
steel, petroleum, chemical, and building materials. The
Steel industry, for example, enjoyed a profit increase of
63.7 percent from January to October.

The debt-asset ratios of major industrial firms dropped 0.5
percentage points year-on-year to 56.7 percent by the end of
October.Nov.30,2018, from:english.gov.cn

State Council reshuffles National Textbook Committee

The State Council announced the reshuffle of the
National Textbook Committee on Nov 28, appointing
Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan as the head.

Minister of Education Chen Baosheng, Vice-Minister of
Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee Wang
Xiaohui, and Deputy Secretary General of the State Council
Ding Xiangyang will serve as deputy heads of the committee.

Group members are senior officials from State Council
departments and experts from academic institutions across
the country.

The group office was set up at the Ministry of Education.Nov.28 ,2018, from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Measures rolled out for further reform, innovation in pilot
FTZs

The Chinese government has rolled out a series of
measures to support pilot free trade zones and deepen reform
and innovation, according to a circular released on Nov 23.

The 53 measures improving the investment environment, trade
facilitation, financial innovation and the human resources
sector can help improve the quality of pilot FTZs, according
to the circular.

To improve the business environment, the ratio requirement
for foreign technical personnel in foreign-invested
construction and engineering design enterprises, as well as
restrictions on recruitment agencies, will be relaxed.

Also, land use for pilot FTZs in some provinces and
municipalities should be given priority in the overall
layout.

In an effort to facilitate trade, qualified pilot zones will
be encouraged to conduct pilot programs on parallel import
automobile businesses.

The circular also stressed financial innovation to serve the
real economy. Efforts should be made to simplify
administrative approval procedures for insurance branches,
and establish and improve the information sharing system
about enterprises¡¯ demand for insurance in pilot FTZs, the
circular stated.

Pilot practices in the human resources sector were also
encouraged. The authority to approve Sino-foreign joint
ventures and wholly foreign-owned agencies with talent
intermediary service in pilot FTZs will be delegated to
local authorities in the zones, according to the circular.

The circular also urged local governments and all related
departments to put importance on improving construction and
management of pilot FTZs, and promote implementation of
those measures.Nov.22,2018, from:english.gov.cn

New patent agency regulations issued

The amended patent agency regulations, which were passed
at the State Council executive meeting on Sept 6, were
released on Nov 19 according to a State Council decree
signed by Premier Li Keqiang.

They will be put into effect on March 1, 2019.

The regulations are aimed at standardizing patent agent
behaviors in order to protect the legitimate interests of
agencies and agents.

The State Council department in charge of patent
administration shoulders management and supervision of
patent agency nationwide, the regulations state.

The regulations set certain rules in terms of regulations on
agencies and agents. For example, the organization form of
patent agencies shall be a partnership or limited liability
company, among others.

Chinese citizens with science and engineering majors in
degrees higher than junior college are eligible to
participate in the national examination for patent agents,
the regulations read.

As to agent practice, it was stated agencies and agents are
liable for keeping secrets for creations they have knowledge
of, except for those patents already published.

Illegal behavior will have consequences. Qualification
certifications will be revoked if obtained via dishonest
means, and fines up to 100, 000 will be imposed if agencies
let out the content of their bailers¡¯ creation, to give some
examples.

Foreign patent agencies setting up representative
institutions in China shall first be approved by the State
Council¡¯s patent administration department, according to the
regulations. Nov.20,2018, from:english.gov.cn

Leading group for 2nd pollution census reshuffled

The State Council released a circular on Nov 12, stating
a national group for the second census on pollution source
will be readjusted and renamed.

The leading group will be led by Vice-Premier Han Zheng,
with three deputy heads ¡ª Ding Xuedong, deputy secretary
general of the State Council; Li Ganjie, minister of ecology
and environment; and Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau
of Statistics.Nov.15,2018, from:english.gov.cn

Multi-pronged measures to help ease financing woes of small
firms

China will make more targeted efforts to boost the
financial sector¡¯s support for the real economy and tackle
financing difficulties for small and micro businesses, the
State Council¡¯s executive meeting chaired by Premier Li
Keqiang decided on Nov 9.

The meeting heard a report on delivery of the policies
regarding accessible and affordable financing for micro and
small businesses.

The Chinese government places great importance on financial
services targeting micro and small businesses. President Xi
Jinping stressed the need for better financial services and
smooth channels for financial services to flow to the real
economy, especially smaller companies. Premier Li Keqiang
underlined the importance of smoothing the policy
transmission channels with targeted measures and encouraging
financial institutions to raise the share of loans to micro
and small companies and cut their financing costs.

The People¡¯s Bank of China, China¡¯s central bank, has
conducted targeted cut to required reserve ratio (RRR) four
times this year, releasing a liquidity of 2.3 trillion yuan.
By the end of September, outstanding loans for micro and
small firms totaled over 33 trillion yuan, up by 11.4
percent year on year.

¡°Government departments are encouraged to take a
multi-pronged approach, and we must waste no time in helping
small firms tackle their liquidity difficulties,¡± Premier Li
said. ¡°No loans extended should be willfully withdrawn.¡±

Greater efforts will be made to enhance financial services
for the private sector, especially micro and small firms.

Financing channels will be widened. The scope of qualified
collateral for the Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) will
be expanded to cover loans for micro and small firms with a
credit quota of up to 10 million yuan per company. Support
will be given to more firms for equity and bond financing.

Financial institutions will be encouraged to make their
lending businesses to micro and small firms part of the
internal performance evaluation, and allocate corresponding
incentive rewards.

The meeting urged hitting the target of lower lending rate
for micro and small firms. Major commercial banks were
called upon to work hard to cut their average lending rate
by one percentage point in the fourth quarter compared with
the first quarter, and any unnecessary procedures or
surcharges in financing will be removed. The meeting also
called for effective measures to prevent credit risks.

Financial institutions will be encouraged to take
substantive measures to further tilt policies in favor of
micro and small firms as well as other private companies,
Premier Li said.

The government must also provide support in terms of
guarantee and taxation, he added.

The meeting also discussed how to better leverage
government-managed guarantee funds to make more financial
resources available to micro and small companies. It was
decided at the meeting that supporting agricultural and
rural development as well as small companies should be the
primary business of all government-managed guarantee and
re-guarantee institutions, with priority given to micro and
small firms as well as entities engaged in agricultural and
rural development with a guarantee volume of up to 5 million
yuan per entity.

Financing costs will be lowered. The State Financing
Guaranty Fund should not set its guarantee fee rate higher
than provincial institutions. Risks should be shared, with
both the State Financing Guaranty Fund and financial
institutions shouldering no less than 20 percent of risks.Nov.9,2018, from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Intensive platform of government websites on pilot run

The State Council issued a circular for the pilot run of
intensive platforms of government websites.

The move is set to integrate scattered websites, connect
data, and resolve inconveniences through intensive platforms
built on a unified information and resource base.

The circular called for active application of new
technologies, coordinated top-level design, strict budget
and project management, and stable progress in the pilot
stage.

According to the circular, intensive platforms should be
completed before the end of December 2019 in 10
municipalities, regions, and autonomous regions.

Intensive platforms should be built with unified standards,
technical platforms, security control, and maintenance, for
integrated and connected data, services, and application,
the circular stated.

The intensive platforms should be able to support management
of websites, columns, resources, authorization, content
release, interaction, user registration, complaint report,
security control, and other functions necessary for
government websites and services.

Construction of the pilot platforms should set requirements
on information classification, formats, and interfaces, and
establish standards on data, for unified resource usage and
monitoring, the circular said.

Meanwhile, a unified information and database should be
built, featuring scientific classification, collective
management, and sharing, with the goal of resource
utilization across websites, systems, and levels.

Local government service platforms should be connected with
the intensive platform of the region to provide unified and
convenient information services for the public.

The platforms should enhance security levels with
preferential procurement of domestic hardware and software,
and IPv6 will also be supported, the circular stated.Nov.9,2018, from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Govt to issue policies easing businesses¡¯ concerns

The State Council released a document on Nov 8 focusing
on improving the business environment, urging policies to be
accurately carried out regarding easing enterprises¡¯
burdens.

Fairness is highlighted on the list of priorities. A revised
negative list must be finished and put into practice by the
end of 2018, which will lower the market threshold for
social capital in civil aviation, railroad and other areas,
and give the green light to more projects that represent
public-private partnerships.

A slew of favorable policies to help relieve financing
difficulties for medium-sized, small and micro enterprises
should be issued and implemented in a timely manner, local
protection and administrative monopolies should be
eradicated, and government credit must be enhanced, as
requested in the document.

Opening-up is set to be increased to a higher level. It is
asked that access limitation outside the negative list for
foreign investment be canceled before next March.
Large-scale foreign investments eligible for major project
development plans will receive support such as land and
sea-use approval procedures. Quickened custom clearance
procedures and export rebates are also urged.

Moreover, cutting red tape in administrative approval must
be stepped up, and a unified government service mode should
be spread nationwide.

Fees will be reduced in a more extensive way, especially in
logistics, certification, inspection and testing and public
use sectors. Illegal charges from industry associations,
intermediate agencies and institutions under government
departments should be stopped, so as to eliminate
unreasonable margins for enterprises. The burden of the
social insurance rate also needs to be cut down for
enterprises.

Meanwhile, protection to intellectual property rights will
also be scaled up. The censoring period for trademark
registration should be compressed to six months, and
regulations over law enforcement in online shopping, export
and import should be formulated before the year¡¯s end.

Divisions of responsibility for supervision and organization
are made explicit to ensure the policies are thoroughly
enacted.Nov.8,2018, from:english.gov.cn

China advances to global top 50 in business climate

China is now one of the top 50 economies in the world
for ease of doing business, due to a record number of
reforms carried out last year, according to the World Bank
Group in its annual doing business report released on Oct
31.

¡°China advanced to a global ranking of 46 this year, up from
78 last year, as the country implemented the largest number
of reforms in the East Asia and Pacific region,¡± the report
said.

Bert Hofman, World Bank country director for China, said:
¡°China has made rapid progress in improving its business
climate for domestic small and medium enterprises in the
past year. The progress signals the value the government
places on nurturing entrepreneurship and private
enterprise.¡±

China¡¯s reforms in areas including cutting administrative
red-tape earned the country a spot in this year¡¯s top 10
global improvers, according to the report.

Progress made in the areas of starting a business and
getting electricity was particularly impressive.

Since last year, three procedures were removed and
consequently it now takes 9 days to start a business, on par
with most OECD high-income countries.

¡°Beijing is now one of only two cities in the world where
the process of starting a business is completely free. China
is now ranked 28 in the area of starting a business,¡± the
report said.

Getting an electricity connection is also entirely free in
China. Japan and the United Arab Emirates are the only two
other countries in the world to have this distinction. As a
result, China has earned a global rank of 14 in the area of
getting electricity.

China also remains one of the best economies in the world to
resolve a commercial dispute. It takes 496 days and costs 16
percent of the value of the claim, far better than the OECD
high-income average of 582 days and 21 percent.

Despite progress made since last year, China still has room
for improvement in terms of dealing with construction
permits, with a global rank of 121 in the area.Nov.01,2018, from:english.gov.cn

Premier Li underlines China-Japan relationsPremier Li Keqiang held a talk with the visiting
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Beijing on Oct 26.

Premier Li said China and Japan are important neighbors, so
developing a long-term healthy and stable relationship is in
accordance with the benefits of the two countries and its
people, and also has huge significance to the region and the
international community. China attaches great importance to
bilateral relations and President Xi Jinping will also meet
with the prime minister soon, he said.

On the basis of four political documents between the two
countries, including China-Japan Treaty of Peace and
Friendship and Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, China is glad
to join hands with Japan to promote the new development on
back-on-track bilateral relations and will try to achieve
further development, said the Premier.

He said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed positive
views many times toward Sino-Japan relations, so he hopes
the two countries could cherish and secure the positive
trend in bilateral ties, strengthen sound interactions,
manage historical issues, Taiwan question and East China Sea
issue to promote the continuous improvement of bilateral
relations.

China is also willing to carry out dialogues with Japan in
political and economic fields, strengthen policy connection
and coordination, deepen cooperation in tech innovation,
energy saving and green development, medical field and
senior care, finance, disaster prevention and agriculture,
making the third-party market a new pillar for the pragmatic
cooperation of the two countries, said the Premier.

He called for boosting the establishment of related projects
as soon as possible through well-organized dialogues on
innovation. Premier Li also urged the two sides to open the
direct liaison hotline under the China-Japan maritime and
air liaison mechanism, increase the communication between
maritime law-enforcement institutions, making East China Sea
a place of peace, cooperation and friendliness.

Efforts should also be made to promote the cooperation on
judicial law-enforcement, exchanges on teenagers, sports and
local fields, and effective measures to facilitate the
exchanges of people in the two countries, he added.

Under the current international background, China and Japan,
as major economies of the world, should jointly safeguard
multilateralism and free trade and promote the establishment
of an open world economy, said the Premier.

Efforts should be made to accelerate negotiations on
China-Japan-ROK free trade zone and the Regional
Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to facilitate
regional trade and investment.

Abe said, Premier Li¡¯s visit to Japan this May has brought
bilateral ties back to normal, which should be taken as a
chance to start a new era of China-Japan ties, featuring
cooperation instead of competition.

China and Japan are important neighbors and strategic
partners without threats for each other, he said, adding
that China¡¯s development is an important opportunity for
Japan.

Japan is willing to strengthen high-level exchanges with
China and expand cooperation in the fields, such as economy
and trade, investment, finance, innovation, third-party
market, teenagers, sports, and regional cooperation on the
basis of the four political documents between the two sides,
Abe said.

Cooperation between China and Japan is the current trend,
and is helpful to solve common concerns facing the whole
world said the prime minister.

The two sides should work hard to promote the RCEP
negotiation to achieve practical results, enhance the
establishment of free and fair international economic order
and contribute to free trade and world economic development.

During the meeting, both sides also exchanged ideas on
international and regional issues of common concerns.

After the meeting, the two prime ministers witnessed the
signing of cooperation agreements on politics, innovation,
finance, customs, and sports.

Before the meeting, Premier Li held a welcome ceremony for
Abe at the Great Hall of the People.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Vice-Chairman
of Chinese People¡¯s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)
Yang Chuantang, and CPPCC Vice-Chairman and Head of the
National Development and Reform Commission He Lifeng
attended the meeting.Oct.27,2018, from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

More enabling business environment to be created

The government will do more to resolve the concerns of
businesses identified during State Council inspection tours,
ensure full delivery of all pro-business policies and build
a national Internet Plus regulation system to make
government regulation smarter, more standardized and better
targeted, the State Council decided during an executive
meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Oct 22.

The government places high importance on improving the
business environment. President Xi Jinping stressed the need
to improve the investment and market environment, cut the
cost of market operations and foster a stable, fair,
transparent and predictable business environment. Premier Li
pointed out that it is critical to deepen the reform of
government functions for notable improvement in the business
environment to improve market exceptions and boost market
confidence.

¡°We need to foster a market-driven, law-based business
environment that meets international standards,¡± Premier Li
said. ¡°The reform of government functions in the past
several years has delivered real benefits to market
entities. The international community also regards the
improvement of our business environment as an important
condition for cooperation with China.¡±

The government must redouble its efforts for a more enabling
business environment by resolving the pressing concerns of
businesses, delivering on all policy incentives and
eliminating the obstacles to business development to bolster
corporate confidence and competitiveness, those at the
meeting decided.

Market access restrictions on private investors will be
further eased. An updated version of the market access
negative list will be released and fully implemented by the
end of the year. All market access restrictions on foreign
investors that are not on the negative list will be
eliminated by next March, creating a level playing field for
investors from both home and abroad.

The number of items subject to government approval will be
cut. All existing items requiring government approval will
be thoroughly reviewed, and a list of administrative review
items will be released by the end of next March when any
administrative review conducted outside the list¡¯s purview
will be seen as a breach of regulation.

The reviewing procedures for corporate investment will be
further streamlined. Measures for reforming the process of
business registration cancellation will be formulated by the
end of the year.

The meeting also urged reducing the tax and fee burden on
enterprises, as well as their social security contribution
rate. More concrete measures shall be formulated in these
respects.

The government must enhance the efficacy of its services.
These services must be standardized. The items subject to
administrative penalty will be streamlined and measures to
regulate the exercise of discretion will be formulated. No
arbitrariness or a one-size-fits-all approach will be
allowed in law enforcement.

¡°There is a direct linkage between the state of a business
environment and efforts of the government,¡± Premier Li said.
¡°It is important that the government works out a law-based
list of items subject to government approval. Issuance of a
business license and that of administrative permits must be
decoupled.¡±

To improve compliance oversight and build on the regulatory
approach of random selection of inspectors and market
entities to be inspected, as well as public release of the
inspection results, it was decided at the meeting that an
Internet Plus regulation system will be established based on
the national government service platform.

This will enhance oversight of the regulatory work of local
authorities and government departments, and help forestall
and detect lurking problems and cross-sectoral,
inter-regional risks by pooling and sharing information.
This system will be uploaded online with the national
government service platform by the end of next September.

¡°We must lose no time in building a ¡®nerve center¡¯ for
government regulation, and the Internet Plus approach is a
good way to start,¡± Premier Li said. ¡°Given the uneven
regulatory capacities across regions and departments and
lack of information sharing, the key to a successful
Internet Plus regulation platform is to ensure that all
information is shared and open to the public. This will help
level the playing field for all businesses.¡±Oct.24,2018, from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

State Council adjusts leadership of openness in government
affairs group

The national leading group for openness in government
affairs is to be reshuffled, according to a circular
released by the State Council on Oct 17.

State Councilor and Secretary General of the State Council
Xiao Jie will become the group leader, and Deputy Secretary
General of the State Council Peng Shujie will become the
deputy head.

Deputy Director of the State Council Information Office Guo
Weimin and 18 other officers from different ministries will
become members of the group.

The office for the leading group is located in the General
Office of the State Council, which will undertake the daily
work, make policy suggestions for promoting openness in
government, and implement decisions made by the leading
group.

Any changes in membership need approval from the group
leader, the circular said.
(Oct.018,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Govt approves Hainan Free Trade Pilot Zone

A free trade pilot zone in Hainan was approved by the
State Council in a circular released on Oct 16.

According to the circular, the pilot zone will cover the
whole island of Hainan.

It also said the development and utilization of the land and
sea area must strictly abide by national laws and
regulations, as well as the integrated plan of Hainan
province.

While intensively using the land and sea, uninhabited
islands should be used in strict accordance with the Law of
the People¡¯s Republic of China on Protection of Islands, it
said.

The scope of special customs oversight areas and the
application of taxation policies in Hainan Free Trade Zone
will remain unchanged.

The Hainan provincial government, the Ministry of Commerce
and other related departments should carry out the
organization and implementation of the overall plan, the
circular added.(Oct.016,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Zhao Changfu meets with guests attending the 2018 national
conference on private enterprise cooperationWu Shaowei attended the meeting.Last night, Zhao Changfu, secretary of CPC Yingkou
committee and director of the standing committee of the
municipal people's congress, met with guests from China
association for individual investors and the state
administration of market supervision who attended the 2018
national conference on private enterprises cooperation held
in Yingkou.(Oct.11,2018)

Yingkou Beihai Economic Development Zone held a special
promotion meeting for health care in Beijing

From September 25 to 29, the provincial government
launched a series of activities to promote investment
promotion week in Beijing, during the time Beihai Economic
Development Zone of Yingkou, in combination with its own
industrial development reality, held a special promotion
meeting for "keeping good health in North East China " in
the afternoon of September 26 at Liaoning Building in
Beijing.
Vice mayor Weng yongcai attended the meeting and made a
comprehensive introduction on city's the urban construction,
development of medical and health industry advantages and
business environment. (Oct.08,2018)

China to introduce more measures to facilitate foreign
investment

The Chinese government will roll out more measures to
facilitate the delivery of major foreign-invested projects,
lower tariffs on some imported goods and streamline customs
clearance procedures at a faster pace, in an effort to
expand opening-up and foster a fairer, more convenient and
more enabling environment for foreign investment, it was
decided at the State Council executive meeting presided over
by Premier Li Keqiang on Sept 26.

The Chinese government places great importance on foreign
investment facilitation. President Xi Jinping has
underscored China¡¯s firm commitment to pursuing the
fundamental national policy of opening-up, promoting
high-standard investment, protecting lawful rights and
interests of foreign investors, and fostering a more
attractive investment environment. Meanwhile, Premier Li
Keqiang has emphasized on many occasions the pledge to widen
market access, give equal treatment to Chinese and foreign
companies, more effectively protect intellectual property
rights, and better facilitate foreign investments in China.

It was decided at the meeting on Sept 26 that an online
filing process will be introduced in regulating foreign
investment in China. Unified market access criteria will be
applied to both Chinese and foreign investment in areas
outside of the negative list. Large-scale foreign
investments eligible for major project development plans
will receive support on land and sea-use approval
procedures, and accelerated environmental impact assessment
and their logistic costs will be reduced.

More areas will be open to foreign investment. The
withholding tax deferral policy for reinvestment by foreign
investors in China will be expanded from the designated
encouraged projects to any areas and projects that are not
prohibited. The meeting also called for intensified
protection of intellectual property rights.

¡°This year marks the 40th anniversary of reform and
opening-up in China. Given the evolving situation at home
and abroad, it is important to firmly commit to fostering a
greater opening-up and attracting foreign investment to help
anchor market expectations,¡± Premier Li said.

Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show that paid-in
foreign investment reached $86.5 billion between January and
August 2018, a 6.1 percent increase year-on-year.

More steps were approved at the meeting to cater to diverse
consumer needs and facilitate industrial upgrading. Starting
from Nov 1 this year, import tariffs on a total of 1,585 tax
items will be slashed. The average tariff rate for
high-demand products in domestic markets such as machinery
and industrial instruments will be cut, from 12.2 percent to
8.8 percent, textile and construction materials from 11.5
percent to 8.4 percent, paper and other resource-based
products and primarily processed goods from 6.6 percent to
5.4 percent. Tax brackets will be consolidated for goods in
the same or similar categories.

Tariff cuts introduced to date will help reduce corporate
and consumer tax burdens by nearly 60 billion yuan and lower
China¡¯s overall tariff rate from 9.8 percent last year to
7.5 percent.

More efforts will be made to expedite customs clearance. The
meeting decided that by Nov 1 this year, the number of
customs clearance documents subject to verification at ports
will be reduced from 86 to 48. The list of administrative
charges at ports will be released before the end of October.
Compliance costs for containers clearing will be reduced by
at least $100 by the end of this year.

Overhaul of fees must be completed without delay in order to
abolish unreasonable charges and cut compliance costs,
Premier Li urged at the meeting.

¡°Competent departments must make concerted efforts to
enhance oversight and treat foreign and domestic businesses
as equals,¡± he said.(Sep.28,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Ten years after first spacewalk, China aims more ambitious
space mission

Exactly 10 years ago, Chinese astronaut Zhai Zhigang
emerged from the airlock, in space, of Shenzhou-7 spacecraft
and became the first Chinese to conduct a spacewalk.

Ten years on from Sept 27, 2008, astronauts at the China
Astronaut Research and Training Center have been training
hard in a neutral buoyancy pool, a very deep pool used to
simulate zero gravity in space, to prove the validity and
rationality of China¡¯s future plan for extravehicular
missions, and to prepare for future space missions.

China¡¯s current space lab, Tiangong-2, has been in orbit for
two years. However, it was designed more as a test bed for
technology rather than long-term space station and is set to
be decommissioned next year.

China is planning to launch a space station, much larger,
with a longer lifespan. Zhai¡¯s spacewalk lasted for 19
minutes and 40 seconds. However, for missions on China¡¯s
future space station, the spacewalk will be much more
frequent and complex. The Astronaut Center has designed
specific training for this.

¡°For our future space station, under our current plan each
spacewalk will last for about six hours,¡± said Yin Rui,
deputy commander of the astronaut system at the Astronaut
Center of China, ¡°This will bring a heavy workload and
difficult mission for our astronauts.¡±

So Chinese astronauts are training hard for future missions.

¡°Every maneuver needs to be perfect. We practice each move
thousands of times, so that we can complete every maneuver
even subconsciously,¡± said Chen Dong, who traveled to space
in Shenzhou-11 mission and stayed in Tiangong-2 space lab
for a month.

¡°There are margins for error. I mean, spacecraft engineers
have left margins for error for us. But we reduce that room
intentionally during training.¡±

However, more training means less time for family. China is
extremely tough when picking its astronauts, and even more
so when training them. Chen trained for six years before his
first mission.

¡°One¡¯s time is limited. I think every astronaut has to make
sacrifices. I spent very little time with my family during
my six-year training,¡± Chen admitted. ¡°My wife had to carry
up all the family responsibility. I think families of
astronauts are also making sacrifices and their support is
also essential to China¡¯s space program.¡±

China¡¯s manned space program has made tremendous progress
since the first spacewalk.

In November 2011, unmanned Shenzhou-8 made China¡¯s first
space rendezvous and docking with the ¡°target spacecraft¡±
Tiangong-1. Less then a year later, Shenzhou-9 made the
first manned docking with the same spacecraft.

In June 2013, crews of Shenzhou-10 made a short-term stay on
Tiangong-1 and conducted 27 experiments on board. In
September 2016, China launched its first space station
Tiangong-2 and Shenzhou-11 docked with the space station a
month later with astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, who
lived and conducted experiments aboard the space station for
a month. (Sep.27,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

China to further develop private economyPremier Li Keqiang received three rounds of applause
during his opening speech at the 2018 Summer Davos Forum in
Tianjin on Sept 19, especially when he spoke about the
private economy.

Premier Li reiterated that China will unswervingly
consolidate and develop the public sector of the economy,
while encouraging, supporting and guiding the development of
the nonpublic sector of the economy.

He also said that China will further implement and improve
policies and measures to support the development of the
private economy, and eliminate obstacles that hinder that
development.

He added that the Chinese government will make more efforts
to ease market access for private enterprises.

The Chinese government has taken various measures to ease
difficult and costly financing for small and medium-sized
enterprises, and most among them are private enterprises,
the Premier said, adding that private enterprises not only
contribute more than 50 percent to the tax revenue of the
country, but also supply China¡¯s largest employment.(Sep.19,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

VLADIVOSTOK ¡ª President Xi Jinping called on countries in
Northeast Asia to seize the historical opportunity and
conform to the trend of the times to strengthen cooperation
in the Russian Far East and Northeast Asia for a better
future of the region.

He made the remarks while addressing the plenary session of
the fourth Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok in
Russia¡¯s Far East on Sept 12.

¡°Under new circumstances, we should join hands and
strengthen cooperation to promote peace, stability,
development and prosperity in the region,¡± Xi told the
forum, which was also attended by Russian President Vladimir
Putin, Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga, Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe and Prime Minister of the Republic of
Korea Lee Nak-yon.

President Xi Jinping (3rd L, rear) attends the plenary
session of the fourth Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), together
with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mongolian President
Khaltmaa Battulga, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and
Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea Lee Nak-yon, in
Vladivostok in Russia¡¯s Far East, on Sept 12, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

Xi proposed that countries in Northeast Asia should build up
mutual trust to safeguard regional peace and tranquility;
deepen cooperation to achieve mutually-beneficial and
win-win outcomes; learn from each other to consolidate their
traditional friendship; and take a long-term perspective to
realize integrated and coordinated development.

¡°A harmonious, united and stable Northeast Asia with mutual
trust conforms to the interests of all countries and the
expectations of the international community, and is also
significant for safeguarding multilateralism and promoting a
more just and equitable international order,¡± Xi said,
noting that the international situation is now undergoing
profound and complicated changes with rising power politics,
unilateralism and protectionism.

The Chinese president said that the six Northeast Asian
countries account for 23 percent of the global population,
and their gross domestic product make up 19 percent of the
global economy.

As a member of Northeast Asia, China has always upheld the
concept of peaceful development to create a harmonious and
friendly neighboring environment; participated in regional
cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect and in a
constructive manner; and endeavored to promote exchanges and
dialogues while taking into consideration the concerns of
all parties, Xi said.

¡°The Chinese side is willing to continue to work with all
other sides to constantly consolidate unity, build up mutual
trust, explore effective ways to maintain lasting peace and
stability in Northeast Asia, and make unremitting efforts to
achieve peace, stability and development in the region,¡± he
said.

Xi said the regional countries should actively align their
development strategies, strengthen policy communication and
coordination, improve cross-border infrastructure
connectivity, promote trade and investment liberalization
and facilitation, jointly build an open regional economy,
and boost sub-regional cooperation to benefit the people in
the region.

¡°In this regard, the Chinese side supports the Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund in
playing a greater role by guaranteeing the project fund,¡± he
said.

Xi expressed the hope that the regional countries can expand
ways of communication, innovate forms of cooperation, and
facilitate the exchanges among the people of all age groups.

The President also called on the regional countries to
explore new models for coordinated development in Northeast
Asia, speed up scientific and technological innovation,
foster a resource-saving and environment-friendly industrial
pattern and way of life, and jointly tackle the regional
environment issues that all countries are facing.(Sep.14,2018)
from:english.gov.cn

¡¡

Premier promises level playing field

Premier Li Keqiang promised a level playing field for
both domestic and overseas enterprises while meeting with
Darren Woods, CEO and chairman of ExxonMobil, in Beijing on
Sept 7.

ExxonMobil discussed a $10 billion exclusively funded
petrochemical project in South China¡¯s Guangdong province
with the Chinese side.
Premier Li said that a thriving two-way investment mode
between China and the United States is conducive to both
parties, the stable development of the global economy, and
growth in international trade. Nations around the globe
should join hands to safeguard free and convenient trade, as
well as investment.
China is a huge market where investors can get a fair and
reasonable return, the Premier added.
ExxonMobil regards this investment as an important step
toward its long-term cooperation with China, Woods said,
adding that the company appreciates recent moves by the
Chinese government in opening-up, business environment
optimization and protection of intellectual property rights.
These measures will help China realize its development
goals, and provide broad opportunities for ExxonMobil and
other foreign enterprises, he said.
¡°The Chinese government will adopt a stricter intellectual
property protection system. If foreign companies encounter
infringements of intellectual property rights in China, they
can complain to relevant departments or to the State Council
directly. We will crack down on them according to law with
severe punishments,¡± Premier Li assured the foreign guests.
It will protect not only the legitimate rights and interests
of foreign-funded enterprises, but also the enthusiastic
Chinese science and technology personnel, thus promoting
transformation and upgrading of the Chinese economy, the
Premier added.

¡°Competition is welcomed and we will grow better from that,¡±
Woods responded when learning of the 10 billion-euro
investment from BASF Group of Germany to construct a fine
chemical integrated base in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province.
Competition creates a fair market, which incubates advanced
enterprises, the Premier concluded, saying that it is the
responsibility of the Chinese government to provide a level
playing field and continuously optimize the business
environment for all types of enterprises.
China hopes that US enterprises, including ExxonMobil, will
make an active move to expand their investment in this
country, and mirror China¡¯s reform and opening-up and
development to the world with an objective and fair voice.
China will further deepen reform and expand opening-up,
provide more convenience for foreign companies to invest in
China, and remain an ideal place for foreign investment, the
Premier said.
ExxonMobil is willing to boost China¡¯s manufacturing with
world-leading technologies and efficient products, and
conduct more long-term cooperation, Woods said, showing
confidence in the project.(Sep.12,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Inspired by new policy, new energy vehicles on a roll

Workers assemble electric vehicles at a new energy
vehicle factory in Zhejiang province. [Photo provided for
China Daily]
Both sales and production of new energy vehicles in China
continued to rise in the first half of this year, and are
expected to sustain the growth momentum during the second
half, analysts said.
New energy vehicle sales increased 111.5 percent
year-on-year to 412,000 units in the first half, while
production rose 94.9 percent to 413,000 units, according to
data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
According to Kou Nannan, senior associate with Bloomberg New
Energy Finance¡¯s advanced transport sector, the upsurge in
new energy vehicles during the first half reflects the
¡°consumption in advance¡±, a response to Beijing¡¯s gradual
reduction of subsidies.
Kou expects the growth rate to be less drastic in the second
half. Manufacturers, especially those producing low-end
products, are likely to raise prices to avoid death due to
decline in government subsidies.
¡°Those making high-end products might maintain their prices
as subsidies for this sector have actually increased this
year,¡± he said.
Headroom for price cuts has been sufficient for certain new
energy vehicles, especially e-buses, as well as cost savings
through economies of scale and battery technology
improvement.
According to a new policy, subsidies for new energy vehicles
with a driving range below 150 kilometers stopped from June
12, while vehicles with a 150 km to 300 km driving range
will receive minimal subsidies.
Battery power/weight requirements for receiving subsidies
have been also increased from 90 watt-hours/kilogram to 105
wh/kg, according to the new policy released by the Ministry
of Finance.
Authorities had said subsidy for new energy vehicles will
reduce in phases from 2017 to 2020, with tighter technical
requirements.
Industry insiders said the subsidy cut, which is meant to
aid the industry¡¯s development in high quality segments and
avoid blind expansion, would further boost sales as the sum
accounts for only a small percentage of the cars¡¯ price
tags.
¡°The new policy will enhance energy density and upgrade the
industry,¡± said Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China
Passenger Car Association.
According to Fitch Ratings, thanks to policies like consumer
purchase incentives and license-plate restrictions, China¡¯
new energy vehicle market will expand steadily to meet its
sales target of 2 million units by 2020, from around 507,000
in 2016 and 777,000 in 2017.
However, the development of the new energy vehicles for the
medium- to long-term market will have to ensure advances in
battery technology and charging infrastructure, it said.
China has remained the world¡¯s largest new energy vehicle
market for three consecutive years, as the country
intensified efforts to encourage the use of such vehicles to
ease pressure on the environment by offering tax exemptions
and discounts for car purchases.
The government expects annual new energy vehicle output to
hit 2 million units in 2020, and sales to make up 20 percent
of the overall auto market by 2025.(Sep.10,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

From
Silk Road to Silk Railroad

With its origins in the Han Dynasty (207 BC-220 AD), the
Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes that
extended from China, across Central Asia, as far as Europe.
Historically, the Silk Road was a key link between China and
the West. Along with it, not only goods but also ideas were
exchanged between the two great civilizations of Rome and
China.
However, a trip along the ancient Silk Road was never a
romantic journey as the name suggests. While traveling
thousands of kilometers, merchants had to contend with
extreme climates and terrains as they had to cross
snow-capped mountains and vast deserts, among other
hardships.
Due to such hardships, it was rare for anyone to undertake
the entire journey. Instead, goods would usually be carried
by teams of caravans, working in relays.
Time flies, today, the camel caravans have been replaced by
trains.
And goods are being shipped at a pace that the ancient
merchants could never have imagined.
Two thousand years ago, it would take a year for merchandise
to be transported between China and Europe. But today,
consumer goods from China can reach London in just 14 days,
thanks to the Silk Railroad ¡ª an international freight
railway network that connects China to cities across Europe.
A key stop on this network is Yiwu, in East China¡¯s Zhejiang
province. Today, the city is one of China¡¯s leading trade
hubs.
Until recently, Europe bound goods from Yiwu would take two
hours by the road just to reach the nearest seaport in
China, followed by a two-month journey across the ocean.
Today, Yiwu is thriving, thanks to a direct overland rail
connection to Europe ¡ª the Silk Railroad.
One of the destinations is Madrid. The 10,000- kilometer
journey from Yiwu, across Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus,
Poland, Germany, France and into Spain, takes 16 days,
compared to the six-week journey-time by sea.
The trains, when they return, carry cargoes that include
fine Spanish wines and other luxury items that are finding a
growing market in China.
The Yiwu-Madrid line and other rail routes that are being
established are carrying trade between China and Europe into
a new era of connectivity. (Sep.05,2018)
from:english.gov.cn

Medical
disputes to be settled legally

Regulation on prevention and settlement of medical
disputes, which was passed at the State Council executive
meeting on June 20, was recently promulgated.
The regulation is meant to protect the legitimate interests
of medical staff and patients by preventing and resolving
disputes to maintain order and ensure security in medical
care.
It advocates mutual respect in medical treatment and the
rule of law in safeguarding rights. Fairness, justice and
promptness should be upheld in dealing with medical
disputes.
Governments above the county level should enhance leadership
in tackling medical disputes, and include it in the
governance system of public security. A coordinating
mechanism should be established to divide responsibilities
among government departments, as required in the regulation.
Medical institutes and their staff are asked to put patients
first, giving them humane care. And medical institutes
should enhance training on related laws and professional
ethics.
When disputes occur, medical staff and patients can pursue
the following: negotiating on a voluntary basis, applying
for mediation, asking for administrative conciliation,
filing a lawsuit with the people¡¯s court and other
approaches regulated by the law.
The regulation will be enforced starting on Oct 1, 2018.(Sep.04,2018)
from:english.gov.cn

Premier
Li: China to adopt stricter IPR protection system

Premier Li Keqiang said China will adopt stricter rules
to protect intellectual property rights, during his meeting
with Francis Gurry, director general of the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Beijing on Aug
28.
Protecting property rights is the cornerstone of the market
economy, while protecting intellectual property rights is a
prerequisite for innovative development, according to
Premier Li.
To protect IPR is to protect innovation and passion of
creative talent, which is of great importance to a nation¡¯s
development. And developing countries will not achieve
transformation without innovation, he said.
As the world¡¯s largest developing country, China is at a
critical stage of economic upgrading, said Premier Li,
adding that China will adopt a stricter IPR protection
system, in which acts of compulsory transfer of and
infringement on intellectual property rights will be
severely punished.
China rises to 17th in 2018 Global Innovation Index
Gurry presented Premier Li the 2018 Global Innovation Index
report released recently by WIPO.
¡°Congratulations to China for moving up another five spots
from last year. Since 2013, China¡¯s ranking has moved from
35th to 17th. I believe China will continue its
development,¡± Gurry said during the meeting.
¡°We are aware that China is a developing country, with a
long way to go to realize modernization. Chinese people are
expecting better lives. To meet their demand faster, an
important measure is to promote innovation,¡± Premier Li
said.
The Premier said that in recent years, China has been
implementing an innovation-driven strategy and promoting
mass entrepreneurship and innovation. This can help gather
wisdom to push forward innovation, while creating a large
number of job vacancies. People can start their own
businesses through innovation, and also innovate through
entrepreneurship.
¡°There is still a big gap between China and developed
countries at the moment. We are eager to learn advanced
technologies from developed countries. We are also willing
to let companies cooperate on paid-transfer of IPR through
consultations on an equal footing, based on respect for and
protection of IPR as well as commercial and market rules,¡±
he said.(Aug.30,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Integrated
medical reform to be cemented

Reform on medical care, insurance and medicine should be
reinforced to relieve the difficulty of receiving treatment,
Premier Li Keqiang said in a written instruction to a
national teleconference on medical reform in Beijing on Aug
27.
Premier Li said the new round of medical reform has brought
significant achievement with Chinese special methods. This
is mostly due to contributions by reform participants and
medical staff, who have dedicated themselves to carrying out
medical reform and protecting the public¡¯s health.
In the new era, tough measures will be taken on the
integrated reform of medical care, insurance and medicine,
the Premier said. Breakthroughs must be made in reducing
extortionate drug prices, deepening reform on public
hospitals, improving basic healthcare insurance and the
tiered diagnosis and treatment system, as well as developing
Internet Plus healthcare.
All these efforts are being made to encourage society to
respect healthcare workers and value health, and to build a
healthy China, the Premier stressed.
Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan attended the meeting. She noted the
current reform needs more efforts to help policies settle in
and eliminate any major problems. Sustainable financial
input should be given to reform to bring real benefits to
the public and incentives to medical staff, then the
healthcare cause can welcome prosperity.
Local governments and related departments should coordinate
medical care, and insurance and medicine systems to enhance
the construction of a basic medical and health system with a
focus on addressing the issues, such as unbalanced medical
sources and expensive medical treatment, the vice-premier
said.
Efforts should be made to accelerate the price reduction of
anti-cancer drugs, promote pilot work on national
centralized procurement of drugs, and improve basic medicine
system to squeeze drug prices and ensure quality and safety.
She also called for further reforms in medical service
prices, financial input and salary systems to improve
hospital management and performance appraisal, and mobilize
the enthusiasm of medical staff.
The vice-premier urged reforming medical insurance payment
methods and strengthening comprehensive medical assistance
to prevent patients and their families from falling into or
returning to poverty due to illnesses.
Allocation of medical resources should be optimized; there
should be an improved grassroots talent incentive mechanism
covering general practitioners and family doctors, and
social forces¡¯ participation in this move should be promoted
to provide qualified healthcare services for the general
public, according to the vice-premier. (Aug.28,2018)
from:english.gov.cn

Tailored measures to help financing for SMEs

China will improve the transmission mechanism of its
monetary and credit policies to ensure full delivery of
measures to make financing more accessible and affordable
for small and micro businesses, the State Council¡¯s
executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided on
Aug 22.
The Chinese government attaches great importance to
financial services for small and micro businesses. President
Xi Jinping stressed that serving the real economy is the
central mission of the financial sector and underlined the
need for better financial services for micro and small
firms. Premier Li Keqiang said that employment and growth
prospects hinge on a vibrant micro and small business
community. He called for more effective and efficient
transmission channels for monetary and credit policies to
ensure that all policy incentives targeting SMEs are fully
delivered.
¡°There is now a pressing need for the financial sector to
serve the real economy, micro and small businesses in
particular, as these businesses play a critical role in
creating jobs,¡± Premier Li said.
Making financing more accessible and affordable for small
and micro businesses has been on the agenda of the State
Council¡¯s executive meeting many times since the start of
this year. In June, re-lending and rediscount quota for
small companies and for agriculture and rural areas was
increased by 150 billion yuan ($23.11 billion). Application
requirements for such lending facilities were eased, new
lending formats were introduced, and the scope of qualified
collateral widened. In July, re-lending and rediscounts for
small companies and for rural areas rose by 19.1 billion
yuan.
¡°There have been some new developments both internally and
externally this year, while financing difficulties facing
micro and small businesses are acutely felt,¡± Premier Li
said. ¡°It is imperative to smooth the transmission mechanism
of financial policies and keep our measures well-calibrated
to ensure that liquidity remains reasonably ample.¡±
The country will stick with prudent monetary policies and
refrain from resorting to a deluge of strong stimulus
policies, it was stressed at the meeting. The government
will work to improve the transmission mechanism of its
monetary and credit policies to ensure full delivery of
measures aimed at lowering financing costs for small and
micro businesses.
More financing support will be given to small and micro
businesses, including setting proper time frames and options
for loan payment and shortening the time required for credit
approval for small and micro businesses, and increasing the
share of mid- and long term loans as appropriate.
An incentive mechanism linking performance assessment of
financial institution with the amount of loans they issue to
small and micro businesses will be established, and a more
accommodating approach will be exercised over the
loan-to-deposit ratio of financial institutions to further
motivate them to better serve small businesses.
Regulatory and evaluation mechanisms will be improved. An
indicator on small and micro businesses loans will be added
to the evaluation mechanism. Irregularities such as linking
loans with deposits and arbitrarily requiring the purchase
of financial products will be resolutely prohibited.
All policy incentives introduced must be implemented to see
results delivered as soon as possible, and it is important
to give equal emphasis to promoting development and staving
off risks and help ensure a better economic performance in
the remainder of the year, Premier Li stressed.(Aug.23,2018)
from:english.gov.cn

Inter-ministerial joint conference system on left-behind
children established

The State Council recently issued a written reply to the
Ministry of Civil Affairs, in which permission was given to
establish an inter-ministerial joint conference system on
caring for left-behind children and securing the well-being
of children in need.
Under the leadership of the State Council, the system will
coordinate and conduct overall plans to help children who
are either left behind or living with difficulties. That
includes formulating related policies and measures,
presenting motions to the State Council, organizing and
steering daily routine work, and promoting ministerial
cooperation.
The conference system consists of wide-ranging ministries
and commissions, highlighting the Ministry of Civil Affairs,
the political and judiciary commission under the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Office of the
Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, and the National
Development and Reform Commission.
Huang Shuxian, the minister of civil affairs, will serve as
the convener, with 26 members from other ministries and
commissions.
A plenary session will be held once a year, presided over by
the convener or anyone entrusted by the convener. A
provisional session may be organized if instructed by the
State Council or called for by administrative work.
There should be a liaison¡¯s session prior to the plenary
session, which should take on the discussions on motions and
related matters to be presented to the plenary session. And
the latter should have minutes to specify items for
discussion. Significant matters should be presented to the
State Council.
All member units should take on their fair share in
accordance with their respective duties, hinging on
organization by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. And the
office of the joint conference system should follow up with
the implementation of agreed items and report their progress
to all related members.(Aug.22,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Tax cuts to benefit people far and wide

The State Council has long been introducing tax
reduction policies on a consistent basis. These measures
have ushered in ample benefits to market entities, as well
as citizens, which has helped people save a substantial
amount of money.
As Premier Li Keqiang stated at a press conference during
the two sessions this year, reduction on taxes and fees is
an out-and-out pragmatic reform by the government, which
should be pushed forward at full capacity. With less fiscal
revenue, more money will be saved for people at large.
According to the report on the final State accounts in 2017,
the lump sum of the annual newly-added tax reduction
outstripped 380 billion yuan ($55.23 billion).
When it comes to 2018, the figure will be larger than that
again for enterprises and citizens. It¡¯s worth noting that
there are two milestone dates in the process of realizing
the 800 billion yuan tax cuts, May 1 and July 1.
On May 1, the government rolled out a slew of VAT reform
policies that benefit both domestic and overseas
enterprises, which will effect a 400 billion yuan tax
reduction. Logistics enterprises were granted a 50 percent
reduction valid from May 1 to Dec 31, 2019 on urban land
utilization taxes and import tariffs on 28 drugs, including
cancer treatment medication, came into force on May 1.
On July 1, China introduced an average 8.8 percent tax rate
decrease on import tariffs for 1,449 taxable items that are
daily consumer goods. An average 46 percent tax reduction
was enforced on automobile products¡¯ import tariffs and a
preferential policy was carried out, benefiting venture
capital firms, personal angel investment at the seed stage
and technology start-ups with taxable income deduction on 70
percent of the investment volume. A preferential policy was
implemented catering to scientific and technical personnel,
for whom only 50 percent of the cash bonus translated from
professional technology achievements is subject to
individual income tax payment. A 50 percent reduction on the
vehicle purchase tax was put into effect for trailer
purchasers, which remains valid until June 30, 2021.
Additionally, a draft of the amendment to the Law on
Personal Income Tax was presented to the Standing Committee
of the National People¡¯s Congress on June 19 for discussion.
The amendment proposed raising the threshold of individual
income tax from 3,500 yuan to 5,000 yuan per month. In
addition, expenses on children¡¯s education, further
education and medical treatment for serious diseases, house
loan interest, and house rents and the like will be deducted
for the very first time.(Aug.14,2018)
from:english.gov.cn

Measures end unnecessary certificates

The Chinese government has rolled out measures with a clear
timetable to end unnecessary certificates, or certificates
with no legal basis, to bring convenience to citizens and
enterprises in handling government-related affairs,
according to a circular issued by the State Council in June.
It came after an announcement on relaxing market entry made
by Premier Li Keqiang during the news conference for the
first session of the 13th National People¡¯s Congress in
March.
The circular urged departments and local governments to
study and offer advice on canceling or reserving
certificates item by item, and remove certificates no later
than the end of 2018, to ensure any license without a legal
foundation will be canceled.
For necessary certificates, a list of their legal bases,
issuing departments and process guidance should be
published, and any government organ is banned from creating
certificates beyond the list, according to the circular.
Any government unit issuing unnecessary certificates or
raising requirements should be investigated, and those who
cause adverse social impact should be held accountable.
Also, the circular stressed enhancing technical support for
information sharing among and within government departments,
to thoroughly address the problem.(Aug.14,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

State Council vows to cut red tape via better e-services

The State Council has vowed to cut red tape by building
a better national e-government service platform and
integrating online and offline service, according to a
notice issued in June.
A unified identity authentication system will be adopted for
online government services across the country.
E-government services will be extended to Weibo, WeChat and
the app platform. State Council departments are encouraged
to connect to the State Council app.
According to the notice, by the end of 2019, 90 percent of
government services at the provincial level should be
accessible online, and 70 percent of municipal government
services should be online.
On-site paperwork will be reduced and put online, such as
registration and making appointments.
On June 11, a complaint platform was opened at the State
Council website. People can use it to report any
inconveniences in government services.
Premier Li Keqiang also asked the State Council General
Office to launch inspections for the implementation of a
red-tape cutting campaign.
During the two sessions in 2018, the Premier pledged to ease
market access through a slew of measures, including cutting
the approval process for starting a business, reducing
permitting time for construction project, and building a
better e-government. (Aug.11,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Lives improved since Government Work Report issued

Since the Government Work Report was released in March, many
promises in the report have been fulfilled. Social-economic
indicators are as expected.
Projected annual GDP growth rate: 6.5 percent
Actual GDP growth rate in first half: 6.8 percent
Projected rise in CPI: 3 percent
Actual half-year rise in CPI: 2 percent
Projected new jobs in 2018: 11 million
Actual new jobs created in first half: 7.5 million, or 68
percent of projected number
Projected urban unemployment rate in 2018: below 5.5 percent
Actual urban unemployment rate: 4.8 percent; the number is
below 5 percent for three months in a row
Cancel data traffic roaming charges
From July 1, domestic data roaming charges were canceled.
Provincial data were upgraded to domestic data, excluding
Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
Raise personal income tax threshold, and add expense
deduction items for children¡¯s education and treatment for
serious diseases
In the draft amendment for personal income tax law, the
personal income tax threshold will be raised to 5,000 yuan a
month, with expense deductions for items such as children¡¯s
education and treatment for serious diseases, home loan
interest and home rent. The draft has been submitted for
review by the standing committee of the National People¡¯s
Congress.
Lower import tariffs on automobiles, some everyday consumer
goods
From July 1, import tariffs on automobiles and their parts
were reduced, as well as most-favored-nation tax rates on
some everyday consumer goods.
Continue raising basic pension for rural and nonworking
urban residents
Minimum monthly pension for rural and nonworking urban
residents was raised from 70 yuan per person to 88 yuan.
Establish central adjustment system for employees¡¯ basic
pension funds to be used inter-provincially
From July 1, the central adjustment system for employees¡¯
basic pension funds to be used inter-provincially was
launched.(Aug.03,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

China gets tough on forex violations

BEIJING ¡ª China¡¯s foreign exchange regulator dealt with
1,354 forex-related violation cases in the first half of
this year, up 19.7 percent year-on-year, an official
statement said on July 24.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in an
online statement that it fined and confiscated a total of
345 million yuan ($50.8 million), nearly 60 percent higher
than the same period last year.
Among those cases, 559 were committed by individuals, 455 by
financial institutions, while the rest were by enterprises.
The regulator has stepped up inspections of financial
institutions to ensure a healthy and orderly forex market.
The administration said it would continue to crack down on
market irregularities such as fraud and underground bank
cases to safeguard economic and financial security.(July
25,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Fiscal, financial policies to bolster real economy
China will continue with stable macro policies and adopt a
combination of fiscal and financial measures in an effort to
boost domestic demand and bolster support for real economy,
the State Council¡¯s executive meeting chaired by Premier Li
Keqiang decided on July 23.
The government will give targeted and well-timed regulation
in face of external uncertainties and maintain that economy
performs within a reasonable range, adding that it will
firmly refrain from resorting to a deluge of strong stimulus
policies, the meeting announced.
The Chinese government puts developing the real economy high
on its agenda. President Xi Jinping underlined the
importance of improving the fiscal spending structure by
prioritizing funding in key areas and projects. In this
year¡¯s Government Work Report, Premier Li Keqiang stressed
the need to focus on the real economy and leverage the
proactive fiscal policy to tackle the financing difficulties
facing small and micro businesses.
In the first half of 2018, the government made tremendous
efforts to cut costs for the real economy, including by
maintaining robust public spending and scaling up tax and
fee cuts. The government also introduced tax incentives and
other measures to make financing more accessible and
affordable for small and micro enterprises.
The meeting agreed that a more proactive fiscal policy will
be pursued. The government will focus on introducing deeper
tax and nontax fee cuts, and more companies will be eligible
for the preferential policies of the additional deduction of
R & D spending in taxable income, a policy which is expected
to cut another 65 billion yuan of tax within this year on
top of an initial goal of cutting taxes and fees by 1.1
trillion yuan this year.
Efforts will be stepped up in issuing the 1.35 trillion yuan
of special bonds for local government to see more tangible
progress on ongoing infrastructure projects.
Prudent monetary policy will be neither too tight nor too
loose, and aggregate financing and liquidity will remain
sufficient, the meeting announced. A better and smoother
transmission mechanism is needed to see credit policy
incentives effectively introduced and delivered. Financial
institutions will also be called on to use the money
released from cuts in their required reserves to support
small and micro businesses and debt-to-equity swap.
The government will step up efforts to ensure delivery of
the state financing guarantee fund, targeting at 140 billion
yuan of loans for about 150,000 small and micro firms each
year.
Solid implementation is urged of the re-lending policy
targeting small businesses. Commercial banks will also be
encouraged to issue financial bonds to these businesses with
the bond issuers exempted from the requirement of continuous
profit-making.
Local authorities that have made visible progress in
expanding financing guarantee and reducing costs for small
businesses will be meaningfully rewarded.
At the same time, the government will resolutely phase out
the ¡°zombie¡± companies to free up their underused funding,
and crack down on illegal financial institutions and
activities to forestall risks.
¡°Any financial and fiscal policy measure must be considered
in a broader context and all measures be well synergized and
fully delivered to reduce costs for businesses in the real
economy and sustain the sound momentum of growth through the
latter half of the year,¡± Premier Li stressed.(July
24,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

China¡¯s GDP
grows 6.8% in H1

BEIJING ¡ª China¡¯s gross domestic product expanded 6.8
percent year on year in the first half of 2018 to about
41.90 trillion yuan ($6.27 trillion), data from the National
Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on July 16.
The pace was well above the government¡¯s annual growth
target of around 6.5 percent.
In Q2, China¡¯s GDP rose by 6.7 percent year on year,
slightly lower than the 6.8 percent from the previous
quarter but representing the 12th straight quarter that GDP
growth rate has stayed within the range of 6.7 to 6.9
percent, according to NBS data.
China¡¯s economy expanded 6.9 percent in 2017, picking up the
pace for the first time in seven years.
NBS spokesman Mao Shengyong told a press conference that the
Chinese economy has been running soundly in the first six
months, offering ¡°a good start¡± for the country¡¯s pursuit of
high-quality development with further restructuring progress
and improved economic quality and efficiency.
The service sector expanded 7.6 percent year on year in H1,
outpacing a 3.2-percent increase in primary industry and 6.1
percent in secondary industry, according to NBS.
Consumption continued to play a more prominent role in
driving growth, with final consumption contributing to 78.5
percent of the economic expansion in January-June, up from
77.8 percent in Q1 and 58.8 percent last year.
The domestic job market remained stable in June, with the
surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas at 4.8 percent,
unchanged from the level in May and down 0.1 percentage
point from June last year.
China¡¯s energy consumed per unit of GDP declined 3.2 percent
year-on-year in H1, exceeding the initial target of having
energy consumption per unit of GDP cut by at least 3 percent
in 2018.
However, noting increasing external uncertainties and the
fact that China is still going through a critical stage in
structural adjustment, Mao said the country would stick to
the supply-side structural reform and coordinate efforts to
ensure stable and sound economic performance.
Commenting on China-US trade frictions, Mao said its impact,
if any, would have been limited on the Chinese economy in
H1, and requires further observation to judge the potential
impact on the economy in H2.
With the global economy deeply integrated, the trade
frictions, unilaterally stirred up by the United States,
would ¡°affect the global economic recovery and
sustainability of global trade growth,¡± he told reporters.
For the rest of the year, Mao said China¡¯s economy would
stay sound and stable as domestic demand is now the deciding
force behind economic growth. He expects consumption to
continue its upward trend, and investment to remain stable.
He said while external demand remains an important factor in
growth, despite China¡¯s challenges in foreign trade in H2,
there are still favorable conditions to support stable and
relatively fast trade growth. (July
17,2018)
from: english.gov.cn
¡¡

Air pollution prevention group revampedThe State Council released a circular on July 3, stating
a prior collaboration group on air pollution prevention in
Beijing, Tianjin, North China¡¯s Hebei province, and adjacent
regions will be readjusted and renamed a leading group on
air prevention instead.
According to the circular, the newly established leading
group will be in charge of implementation of policies on air
contamination, joint control of air pollution, overall
planning and supervision on pressing matters and research on
measures improving regional air quality.
The leading group will be helmed by Vice-Premier Han Zheng
and flanked by four deputy heads ¡ª Li Ganjie, minister of
ecology and environment, Chen Jining, mayor of Beijing,
Zhang Guoqing, mayor of Tianjin, and Xu Qin, governor of
Hebei province.
The new lineup also includes other members from ministries
and provincial regions, and its steering office will be at
the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. (July 13,2018)
from: english.gov.cn

China to solidify strong employment momentumThe Chinese government will take concrete measures to
boost and expand employment, focusing on college graduates,
veterans, laid-off and relocated workers, it was decided at
the State Council¡¯s executive meeting chaired by Premier Li
Keqiang on July 4.
¡°Maintaining steady employment is of primary importance for
China¡¯s economic development and is the foremost livelihood
issue,¡± Premier Li said. ¡°With the economy looking up in
recent years, employment has expanded steadily.
Nevertheless, employment must stay high on the government
agenda for steady creation of new jobs and improvement in
the employment structure.¡±
New urban employment has been running at a high level in
recent years. According to the Ministry of Human Resources
and Social Security, 6.13 million urban jobs were added
between January and May this year, an increase of 140,000
from last year, hitting a new record.
It was emphasized at the July 4 meeting that considering the
challenges and uncertainties China still faces on the
employment front, government departments at all levels must
remain focused on their employment tasks and take
multi-pronged measures to fulfill them.
The government will closely monitor the employment situation
in key regions and among major groups, and make targeted
plans to forestall potential problems.
The reform to transform government functions will be
deepened to improve the business environment and ease
corporate burdens. Policy incentives will be introduced to
encourage companies to keep their payrolls stable.
Better and more targeted services will be provided under the
program to upgrade the nationwide initiative of business
startup and innovation. More measures will be taken to
support flexible employment and job creation in new forms of
industries and the services sector to help more market
entities survive and thrive.
Priority will be given to the employment of college
graduates, veterans and laid-off workers. Vocational
training will be intensified to better equip these groups
for job seeking. And migrant workers will receive better
services in landing jobs and starting their own businesses.
Local governments were urged at the July 4 meeting to
earnestly fulfill their employment responsibilities as a top
priority and pool efforts of all stakeholders to boost
employment.
¡°No jobs means no wealth creation and possibly less social
stability,¡± Premier Li said. ¡°All government departments
must live up to their responsibility and make employment
plans for the remainder of this year and next. No one should
take this issue lightly.¡±
In his Government Work Report in March, Premier Li made it
clear that the government will work to create over 11
million new urban jobs and keep the surveyed urban
unemployment rate within 5.5 percent in 2018.
He stressed at the July 4 meeting that institutional
transaction costs should be further reduced to cut labor
costs and lighten corporate burdens, to enable them to hire
more and boost economic growth.
¡°A multi-pronged approach will be adopted to push
entrepreneurship and innovation across the country. Efforts
will be made to expand the channels and opportunities for
flexible employment, and priority groups, including college
graduates, veterans and laid-off workers, will receive more
employment guidance, training and support,¡± Premier Li said.
(July 05,2018) from: english.gov.cn
¡¡

China steps up efforts to promote trade2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the start to China¡¯s
reform and opening-up policy. China is stepping up its game
in promoting trade this year as it marks the occasion.
40 years have passed since China extended open arms to
international trade and investment and dedicated itself to
creating a positive business environment for companies from
around the world.
WANG TINGTING, GREATER CHINA VICE-PRESIDENT DECATHLON ¡°We
can see that China still provides huge business
opportunities for foreign investments. The market potential
is still huge.¡±
China has been one of the most attractive markets for
multinationals for four decades. Foreign firms now
contribute 50 percent of all imports and exports, 25 percent
of industrial output and 20 percent of China¡¯s tax revenues.
This country has become the largest overseas market for many
global fortune 500 companies.
RACHEL DUAN, PRESIDENT & CEO GE CHINA ¡°GE actually has been
in China for 100 years. But obviously our fastest growth has
been the last three decades. So we have been here since the
very beginning of the China opening door policy and economic
reform. We benefitted from it a lot.¡±
YANG CHENGXI SHANGHAI ¡°The first China International Import
Expo will be held in Shanghai during the 40th anniversary
year of China¡¯s reform and opening-up. The government sees
the expo as one of its most important global events in
2018.¡±
Over one thousand firms from more than 120 countries say
they will attend the November expo. Among them are nearly
100 global fortune 500 companies, including L¡¯Oreal, the
world¡¯s largest cosmetics conglomerate.
JEAN-PAUL AGON, CHAIRMAN & CEO L¡¯OREAL ¡°L¡¯Oreal China is
growing very fast. It¡¯s developing very well. We have been
very successful, we have been here for 20 years.¡±
The Ministry of Commerce says China will import over $10
trillion worth of goods and services during the next five
years. The ministry also says that the upcoming China
International Import Expo will be a symbol of the vast
potential in the Chinese market.
(July 05,2018) from: english.gov.cn

Premier Li envisions closer cooperation with CEE countriesSOFIA ¡ª Premier Li Keqiang on July 4 wrote a signed
article entitled ¡°New Beginning, New Vision and New Journey¡±
for mainstream Bulgarian newspapers, 24 Chasa and Standard,
prior to his official visit to Bulgaria and the seventh
Summit of Heads of Government of China and Central and
Eastern European Countries (CEEC).
Premier Li began his article by expressing delight in
visiting Bulgaria and attending the seventh China-CEEC
Summit in Sofia. This is the first visit by a Chinese
premier in 18 years, and the first stop of his first visit
to Europe after the formation of the new Chinese government.
The visit aims to inject new impetus to the growth of
China-Bulgaria relations and China-CEEC (16+1) cooperation.
According to the article, China will enhance complementarity
between the Belt and Road Initiative and Bulgaria¡¯s
development strategy, and encourage more Chinese companies
competitive in equipment and engineering to invest in
Bulgaria and get actively involved in infrastructure
projects tailored to local needs. The two sides will work
together to promote balanced growth of bilateral trade, and
provide greater convenience for mutual visits and tourism.
They will also strengthen exchanges in culture and
education, between the youth and at the sub-national levels,
to keep the tree of friendship well-nourished and evergreen.
Premier Li pointed out that China and the CEE countries are
at similar levels of development and are all committed to
common development through closer cooperation based on
complementarity. Both sides are in the process of economic
transformation and upgrading. 16+1 cooperation is
results-oriented and guided by the principles of mutual
respect, equality and noninterference in internal affairs.
Such cooperation has no political strings attached.
The two sides will pursue win-win outcomes and form greater
synergy between their respective development strategies and
needs by working out a medium-to-long-term plan of
cooperation and promoting more balanced and sustainable
growth of two-way trade and investment. They are committed
to an open and inclusive 16+1 cooperation rather than making
it a closed or exclusive club. They will continue to conduct
cooperation within the framework of relevant EU laws and
regulations and according to the principle of openness and
transparency. China is ready to enhance communication with
the EU and welcomes discussions on cooperation in
third-party markets.
The Premier stressed that China remains a supporter of
European integration and hopes to see a united, stable, open
and prosperous EU and a strong euro. As an important part
and useful complement to China-Europe relations, 16+1
cooperation will help narrow the development gaps within
Europe, promote balanced development between the East and
the West, and instill new vitality into the all-round
cooperation between China and Europe.
(July 05,2018) from: english.gov.cn
¡¡

State Council releases white paper on China and WTO

The State Council Information Office has released a white
paper on China and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The
document is a summary of China¡¯s achievements, contributions
and commitments to the WTO.
The ¡°China and the World Trade Organization¡± White Paper is
divided into four parts. Each part focuses on an important
aspect regarding China¡¯s 17-year contribution to the WTO.
China joined the WTO as its 143rd member on Dec 11, 2001.
Since then, the country has conscientiously fulfilled its
WTO commitments and brought benefits not only to the
country¡¯s people, but also for the rest of the world, the
White Paper said.
China has been consistently reforming in order to develop a
socialist market economy and has rigorously improved its
legal system.
According to the White Paper, the government modified more
than 2,300 national laws and regulations to adapt to WTO
commitments, while localities modified or canceled 190,000
related local laws and regulations, to improve policy
transparency and ensure conformity with WTO rules.
¡°By 2010, China had fulfilled its tariff-cutting promises
for WTO membership by cutting overall tariff levels from
15.3 percent to 9.8 percent by 2010.¡±
China has also honored its commitments on trade-in-services,
by opening up its markets and slashing investment
restrictions. China has also enhanced intellectual property
right protection. It has set up IPR courts in Beijing,
Shanghai and Guangzhou and special judicial organs at 15
intermediate courts.
China is a staunch supporter of the multilateral trading
system and has taken concrete actions to uphold its
integrity.
It has safeguarded the effective operation of the WTO
dispute-settlement-mechanism and has properly handled trade
disputes with other members. It has been actively
participating in trade policy reviews. It has called upon
the WTO to focus more on the concerns of developing member
countries. China also stands firmly against unilateralism
and protectionism.
China has embraced the world with open arms and has made
significant contributions to the global economy since it
joined the WTO.
Since 2002, China¡¯s contribution to global economic growth
has approached 30 percent on average. It¡¯s a major trading
partner of over 120 countries. The Belt and Road Initiative
is China¡¯s latest move to share its economic development
with the world.
China will hold the annual International Import Expo from
Nov 5 to 10 this year in Shanghai and is seeking to buy more
goods from the world and boost consumption. The expo will
further increase access to China¡¯s burgeoning domestic
market.
China will take measures this year to solicit more foreign
investment, the White Paper said.
¡°The country will greatly relax market access, facilitate
investment with better services and encourage foreign
capital into more regions ¡­ the negative list approach to
market entry, which states sectors and businesses that are
off limits to foreign investment, will be expanded
nationwide.¡±
Looking ahead, China is willing to work hand-in-hand with
its trading partners to make globalization more open and
inclusive, the White Paper said.
(June 29,2018) from: english.gov.cn
¡¡

Reform of government services to be directed by plan

To give more convenience to enterprises and citizens, the
State Council approved a plan to boost Internet Plus
administrative services, according to a circular released on
June 22.
The move is expected to construct an online administrative
service system that integrates data from different regions,
government departments and application items, with which
enterprises and citizens can obtain one-stop service by
logging onto one website or visiting one service hall.
By the end of 2018, preliminary effects are set to be
achieved, and successful experiences in advanced areas will
be expanded nationwide.
By the end of 2019, the reform on application items in key
fields and items frequently applied should be completed.
A national government service platform should be built to
work as a hub providing access to the service platforms of
all departments and regions nationwide. The data, as well as
the real name authentication of people, are shared across
these platforms, making it easier for people conducting
business on different platforms.
Governments at different levels should improve and
constantly update their data resources, and make them widely
shared across different service platforms.
Except for special circumstances, all service items should
be processed online following certain standards of the
national public service platform.
Mobile applications are encouraged to provide the services.
For offline services, provinces, cities, counties and towns
should build or improve their service halls, using data from
online platforms to facilitate the process, allowing all
application items to be conducted in just one place.
Application items that must be conducted offline should be
clearly listed, with processes streamlined and unnecessary
materials trimmed. Public services are supported to be
available in lower level regions, to strive for ¡°one-stop
services¡± for people.
The service platforms should also serve market regulation by
monitoring and analyzing big data from the market.
Meanwhile, security on the service platforms will be
enhanced to better protect privacy.
Regulations that are not accommodated for developing
Internet Plus administrative services should be amended or
abolished.
Public supervision is welcomed in public services. The State
Council¡¯s and local governments¡¯ websites and service
platforms at all levels should open hotlines for people¡¯s
consultation or complaints.(June26,2018)
from: english.gov.cn

State Council approves establishment of Chinese Farmers¡¯
Harvest Festival

The State Council has approved setting up the Chinese
Farmers¡¯ Harvest Festival, in a reply to the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
It decided to make the annual Autumn Equinox, the 16th solar
term of the year on the Chinese lunar calendar, as a day to
celebrate the harvest, and authorized the ministry to work
out details with other related departments.(June22,2018) from: english.gov.cn

China to promote utilization of foreign investment

The State Council released on June 15 a circular on
measures to effectively utilize foreign investment and
promote high-quality development of the economy.
The steps include lowering market threshold, deepening
administrative reform, promoting high-quality investment,
creating a high-standard business environment, optimizing
investment layout, and enhancing the role of national
development zones, according to the circular.
To ease market access in a large scale, the nationwide
practice of pre-establishment national treatment and
negative list on foreign investment will be improved.
The special administrative measures on foreign investment
nationwide and in free trade pilot zones, known as ¡°negative
list¡±, will be revised and published before July 1, 2018,
aiming to enhance opening-up in an all-around way.
The circular also stressed further opening-up in the
financial sector, services sector and sectors such as
agriculture, mining and manufacturing.
It called for efforts to ease restrictions on setting up
foreign financial institutions, revise regulations related
to Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) and RMB
Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII), develop
the market of crude oil futures, and attract overseas trader
in iron ore futures trading.
The administrative reform will be deepened for foreign
investment facilitation, according to the circular.
Provincial-level governments will be entitled to review
registration and modification of foreign-invested
enterprises investing less than $1 billion in sectors
included in the negative list.
Local governments were encouraged to carry out integrated
approval procedures, and review enterprises¡¯ registration
and filing in one platform.
Capital use of foreign-invested enterprises, foreign
talents¡¯ work in China, and their exit and entry will be
easier than before, according to the circular.
Efforts should be made to attract foreign investors with
advanced technologies and management experience, support
their participation in the construction of free trade port
in Hainan province, and strengthen the leading role of pilot
free trade zones in attracting foreign investment, the
circular stated.
It also encouraged foreign-invested enterprises to reinforce
R&D, put more capital in advanced technologies, and
participate in merger and acquisition in China.
The circular also stressed measures to protect intellectual
property right (IPR) and other rights, including lifting the
upper limit of IPR infringement compensation, strictly
cracking down on illegal activities such as business secrete
invasion and trademark squatting, and prohibiting compulsory
technology transfer.
For a better layout of foreign investment, it encouraged
foreign-invested enterprises in western and northeastern
regions to expand financing channels through issuing bonds,
and urged cutting logistic costs through a full range of
measures.
Also, the government will support the development of key
border areas and the establishment of international
cooperation zones in western regions which will play a
leading and exploratory role in utilizing foreign capital.(June20,2018) from: english.gov.cn
¡¡

China vows
to boost imports for balanced trade, consumption upgradeChina will take a slew of incentives to further boost
imports in order to drive domestic industrial upgrading and
better meet the increasingly diversified consumption demands
of people, the State Council decided at an executive meeting
chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on June 13.
The measures are expected to advance China¡¯s win-win
strategy of opening-up. Expanding imports while keeping
exports stable will help raise the supply quality and
upgrade consumption.
The Chinese government puts great emphasis on boosting
imports. In his keynote speech at the Boao Forum for Asia
Annual Conference in April, President Xi Jinping announced
that China will expand imports and achieve greater balance
in international payments under the current account, and
will import more products that are competitive in light of
market demand. Premier Li Keqiang stated in the Government
Work Report in March that China will actively expand imports
and lower import tariffs on goods such as automobiles and
everyday consumer products, to promote industrial upgrading
and more balanced development of trade and further diversify
consumer choices.
China has made notable achievements in foreign trade since
reform and opening-up. The country has been the world¡¯s
largest exporter and second largest importer of goods for
nine consecutive years, and is now the world¡¯s largest
importer of energy resources.
¡°Expanding imports is crucial for upholding free trade.
Priority should be given to meeting the needs of everyday
life and boosting trade in services,¡± Premier Li said. ¡°Our
deficit in services trade may be turned into a catalyst for
upgrading the services sector.¡±
The June 13 meeting decided that more support will be given
to importing daily consumer goods, medicine, as well as
nursing and rehabilitation facilities, to meet the demand of
consumption upgrading and improve supply quality. The
government will also cut the import tax on some goods and
reduce institutional procedures and unreasonable price
increases, so that consumers can benefit from the import
duty cuts.
Trade in emerging services will be boosted, and imports of
producer services covering research and design, trade
logistics, consulting services, energy conservation and
environmental protection will be encouraged.
Policies on duty-free shops will be made more flexible, with
more duty-free products introduced and shopping experiences
improved. Imports of technological facilities needed for
domestic industrial upgrading will be supported.
The meeting also called for optimizing customs clearance
procedures and promoting the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO)
mutual recognition with other countries to better facilitate
imports. New approaches to importing trade were called for
at the meeting, and cross-border e-commerce and border trade
will be further developed. At the same time, a credit
information system in foreign trade as well as enhanced
intellectual property rights protection are needed so that
foreign trade and foreign investment will complement one
another.
¡°Our initiative of boosting imports demonstrates China¡¯s
commitment to a new round of high-standard opening-up, to
economic restructuring, and to economic transformation and
high-quality development,¡± Premier Li said.
April¡¯s statistics from the General Administration of
Customs show a good momentum in China¡¯s foreign trade in the
first quarter of this year. Trade in goods totaled 6.75
trillion yuan, up 9.4 percent year-on-year, and trade
surplus fell 21.8 percent. (June 14.2018)
from: english.gov.cn
¡¡

China sees improvement on IPR development

The comprehensive development level of intellectual
property rights (IPR) in China has kept rising and the
quality of patents is improving, said an official at the
State Intellectual Property Office on June 12.
Han Xiucheng, director of the office¡¯s Intellectual Property
Development Research Center, made the remarks at the launch
of a report about China¡¯s IPR development in 2017.
The report shows that China has made progress in IPR
creation, application, protection, management and service,
and the gap with major IPR powers has narrowed. China¡¯s IPR
development ranked 10th out of 40 countries in 2016, up from
19th in 2012.
In 2017, China¡¯s patent retention rate reached 60 percent,
up 3.9 percentage points from a year earlier, and the
average duration of invention patents reached 6.2 years, the
report said. Though the quality of China¡¯s patents has
improved, it still lags far behind increases in quantity and
efficiency.
Han also said China would step up IPR protection by raising
legislative standards, improving law enforcement, and
promoting innovation in the trial of IPR cases, in order to
impose tougher punishment on the infringement of IPR.
¡°The improvement of the IPR system, steady increase in the
number of service organizations and personnel, as well as
fast growing of public awareness has made the IPR
environment in China much better,¡± Han said. (June13,2018)
from: english.gov.cn

China to improve quality of domestic dairy and milk products

To further revive the milk industry and improve the
quality of domestic dairy products, the State Council has
released a circular to guide the industry¡¯s development.
It expects the industry to increase its own production
capacity through technological innovation, system reform in
management and cost reduction while increasing efficiency.
Development of the industry should also be coordinated with
ecological development.
By 2020, progress should be made in building a modernized
milk industry, with more than 99 percent of the products
qualifying and re-use rate of the waste in cattle raising
reaching more than 75 percent. The whole milk industry
should be revitalized by 2025, with milk source bases,
product processing, quality and industry competitiveness
reaching the world¡¯s top levels.
To improve milk source bases, the government urges efforts
to consolidate the current bases in the north, while
expanding new areas in the south. It calls for developing
standardized cattle breeding methods, improving the quality
of milk cows through big data and online evaluation
platforms, and producing high-quality fodder for the cows.
According to the circular, the State Council encourages the
integration of dairy enterprises, promotion companies and
e-commerce retailers, in order to lower costs while
enhancing efficiency to increase the competitiveness of
dairy enterprises.
Regulations and rules on dairy products will also be
improved, with strengthened supervision through the whole
production process of dairy products.
More strict measures will be taken to ensure the quality of
formula milk powder for infants, and illegal actions such as
mixing inedible ingredients and overuse of food additives
will be strictly banned.It clearly forbids importing milk powder in bulk and
splitting them before sales, while encouraging companies to
set up their own milk bases to improve the quality for
infants.
Dairy enterprises should also make efforts to improve their
image through activities such as inviting visitors to the
farms, publicizing the production process to inspire market
consumption.
The government will provide policy support in breeding and
product processing, and help strengthen coordination among
different regions and departments, according to the release.
(June 13,2018)from: english.gov.cn

Chinese businesses see technology investment as the way to
hedge against risks

Chinese businesses see technology investment as the way
to hedge against current trade and policy risks ¡ª that was
the consensus from CEOs attending the recent annual China
Enterprises Summit in Jiangyin city, East China¡¯s Jiangsu
province.
The pulse of the real economy is humming. Profits are
picking up pace thanks to faster production and supply side
reforms, but the corporate sector is not being complacent.
Huaxi village, known as China¡¯s No. 1 village, which used to
be heavily steel-dependent, has shut down nine plants in the
past few years and is investing in display technology,
financial services. Wu Xie¡¯en, the Party chief of Huaxi,
said that they ¡°started reforms on HR (and) organization
structure to revitalize the company.¡±
Chinese retail giant Gome is also trying to make
improvements. Its board member Huang Xiuhong, who is also
the chairwoman of Eagle Holdings, said that they want Gome
to go beyond appliance retail to build a smart homes
ecosystem. She continued that sales are expected to grow
50-70 percent this year, since ¡°our mobile platforms are
going to get smarter and offer fuller services.¡±
Far East Holdings Group is an example, as well. The company
last year invested in a $1.8 billion joint venture with
Detroit Electric to produce electric cars. The company will
be rolling out more models internationally, according to its
Chairman Jiang Xipei.
On the hot button China-US trade issue, CEOs were in
wait-and-see mode. ¡°We¡¯d be more cautious about overseas
expansion. There are many policy developments we don¡¯t
understand. I think the Chinese market is big enough,¡± Huang
noted. Jiang hold the similar opinion and said, ¡°We¡¯d be
more cautious about US investments in the future, because we
want to make sure the macro environment is positive for our
business.¡±
The CEOs not only discussed the challenges, tighter
financing conditions, stricter environment rules and trade
uncertainties, but they are also finding the opportunities
from new energy, seeking new partners, freer trade.
The one thing they all have in common is the thirst for
technology talent. ¡°The hard thing is getting talent in high
tech, new technologies, right now almost all companies want
to get into tech, it takes considerable time to build up the
talent pool and reward them,¡± Huang told CGTN.
¡°I think getting talent is not just about money, we need to
give them acceptance, to back them up when they¡¯re being
misunderstood or run into difficulties,¡± Wu mentioned.
¡°My biggest concern is talent. We used to lack technology,
capital, management experience, now we hope the real economy
can attract more top graduates from all disciplines,¡± Jiang
Deyi, chairman of BBMG Corporation stressed on talent, too.
Unlike past years when the ¡°real economy¡± sounded staid
compared to financial expansion, property speculation and
overseas spending sprees, the 2018 mood is ¡°back to basics¡±
¡ª a strategy that should help corporate China ride out the
current policy turbulence.(June12,2018)
from: english.gov.cn

The development of China¡¯s digital economy

China¡¯s Cyberspace Administration takes a look at the
country¡¯s booming Information Technology (IT) sectors in a
fresh report. The report on the development of China¡¯s
digital economy shows that the area has expanded rapidly in
past years.
In 2017, China¡¯s digital economy had a total output of 27
trillion yuan ($4.2 trillion), up more than 20 percent from
the previous year. That made up almost one third of China¡¯s
GDP. Analysts say the application of IT is an important
driver in China¡¯s economic upgrading.
The development of digital economy was thanks to the
hardware resources.
In 2017, China produced 97 million smart televisions, up
about 4 percent from 2016. In addition, Chinese
manufacturers assembled 130 thousand industrial robots, up
81 percent from 2016. Also last year, China produced 2.9
million civilian drones, with a 67 percent increase.
As a result, China¡¯s ever pervasive mobile payment sector
processed transactions exceeding 200 trillion yuan ($31.2
trillion).
Big data is an emerging segment in the IT sector. And it¡¯s
viewed by many industrial players as a strategic area and
potential source of growth.
The total output of the sector amounted to 23 billion yuan
($3.6 billion) last year. Although that is still a small
number, the sector¡¯s growth has been fast. China Academy of
Information and Communications Technology estimates that the
sector¡¯s output will reach 33 billion yuan ($5.2 billion) in
2018. (May
30,2018) from: english.gov.cn
¡¡

Premier
Li urges economic upgrade for high-quality developmentPremier Li Keqiang urged upgrading the economy,
promoting high-quality development and improving people¡¯s
lives at a State Council plenary meeting he chaired on May
25.
The Premier said China¡¯s development faces both precious
opportunities and challenges hard to foresee, as the
international political and economic landscape is being
reshaped.
He said the reforms of streamlining administration,
delegating power and improving service should be continued
to stimulate the market, in addition to easing market access
and cutting taxes and administrative fees. The market should
play a decisive role in resource allocation while the
government should play a better role, he said.

Efforts should be made to strengthen market supervision to
create an environment for fair competition, while cutting
repetitive supervision and red tape and reducing the
discretionary powers of the government, he noted.
A unified online administrative service platform should be
built to facilitate people¡¯s lives and businesses.
Opening-up should be expanded, so that domestic and foreign
companies can compete fairly in China¡¯s vast market, he
added.
The Premier stressed the need to transform economic
structure, nurture new growth drivers and upgrade
traditional drivers to promote industries to the middle- and
high-end.
He urged more efforts in basic research and key
technologies, encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation,
and promoting new technologies and new industries through
inclusive and prudent supervision.
It is important to eliminate backward capacity and develop
environmentally friendly industries in order to achieve a
win-win situation between ecological protection and economic
development, he said.

Premier Li asked related departments to stick to
people-oriented development concepts, with priorities on
securing people¡¯s basic livelihoods. Guarantee mechanisms
should be constantly improved in poverty alleviation,
employment, compulsory education, basic healthcare, basic
pension insurance and basic living allowances, among which
more efforts should be put on targeted anti-poverty
measures, distribution of pensions in full amounts and on
time, as well as increasing reimbursement ratios and
coverage for major illness insurance. In addition, more
nonbasic public services will be provided to meet the
diversified demands of society.
He also stressed risk prevention and emergency management in
finance, urban governance, safe production, pollution
control, natural disasters and major challenges from
international society, so as to secure steady economic and
social development. (May 29,2018) from: english.gov.cn
¡¡

China issues
guidelines to strengthen scientific integrity

BEIJING ¡ª China issued guidelines on May 30 to
strengthen scientific integrity, encourage innovation and
scale heights in science and technology, to lay a solid
social and cultural foundation for building the country into
a world scientific power.
A scientific integrity mechanism will be built to encourage
innovation and tolerate trials and errors while maintaining
zero tolerance for severe academic dishonesty, and anyone
who violates the integrity rules will be held accountable by
law, according to a document released by the General Office
of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and
the General Office of the State Council.
China¡¯s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) will take the
leading responsibility in coordinating and managing the work
of scientific integrity in the fields of science and social
sciences respectively.
According to the guidelines, MOST and CASS plan to build an
integrity information system to record and assess conduct of
scientists and scientific institutions across the country.
The guidelines strictly prohibit practices such as
plagiarism, fabrication of data and research conclusions,
ghost-writing, and peer review manipulation.
The guidelines say great efforts will be made to reform the
scientific research evaluation system, making scientific
integrity an important indicator in various evaluations.
Papers, patents, titles, projects, and honors should not be
taken as the restricting qualifications for evaluation,
according to the guidelines.
MOST also plans to build a journal warning mechanism to put
any domestic or international academic journals that ignores
academic quality while seeking high payments onto a
blacklist, and papers published in such journals will not be
recognized in any kind of assessment.
The guidelines say intermediary service agencies which
engaged in illegal activities such as buying and selling
scientific papers, ghost writing, and forging, fabrication,
and distorting research data, will be punished severely.
Those who are found to have committed academic misconduct
will be banned from teaching or doing any kind of research
work in government-run schools and scientific institutions.
Their research grants will be canceled and honors revoked,
according to the guidelines.
The guidelines encourage Chinese researchers to conduct
exchanges and cooperation with relevant countries and
international organizations, strengthen study on scientific
integrity, jointly improve international norms of scientific
research, and positively cope with transnational cases
regarding scientific integrity, the guidelines say.
(May25,2018) from: english.gov.cn
¡¡

Premier urges cutting logistics costs, improve efficiency
At the State Council executive meeting on May 16, Premier Li
Keqiang pledged to cut costs in the logistics industry and
improve its efficiency.
He said the government has taken effective measures in
recent years to cut logistics costs. Data show that in 2017,
social logistics costs accounted for 14.6 percent of GDP,
down by 3.4 percent from 2012, falling five years in a row.
¡°There is still room for reform,¡± the Premier said. ¡°During
my local visits, I found that the number of permits for
passenger vehicles is still too high.¡±
Measures were issued at the meeting. From May 1, 2018, to
Dec 31, 2019, the land use tax for warehouses of logistics
enterprises will be cut by 50 percent. The vehicle purchase
tax for trailers will be cut, also by a half, from July 1,
2018, to June 30, 2021.
The annual verification, examination and exhaust gas
inspection for trucks will be consolidated. Getting permits
for them will be simplified. The certificate for trucks
under 4.5 metric tons will be canceled.
The government will also try to cancel toll stations at
provincial boundaries on highways and simplify procedures
for logistics enterprises to set up branches.
Earlier this year, a policy was issued to adjust the
value-added tax, which resulted in the reduction of railway
freight. With these measures taken this year, logistics
costs are expected to be cut by over 12 billion yuan.
¡°Besides cutting transportation costs, we should also
develop a combined transport by highway, railway and
waterway to improve logistics efficiency,¡± the Premier said.
At the meeting, he urged further streamlining
administration, delegating power and cutting taxes and
institutional trade costs.(May 22,2018) from: english.gov.cn

China will further cut red tape to spur foreign investment

China will further simplify procedures for setting up
foreign-invested enterprises to promote high-standard
facilitation of free trade and investment, the State Council
decided at an executive meeting chaired by Premier Li
Keqiang on May 16.
It was decided at the meeting that a single form and
one-stop services will be introduced for the business filing
and registration of foreign-invested enterprises. The whole
process will be conducted online and free of charge, without
the need for paperwork or appearance in person. This
practice, which will take effect from June 30, is expected
to significantly shorten the time required for FIE-related
business procedures.
Real-time sharing and coordinated management of FIE-related
information will be promoted among banking, customs,
taxation and foreign exchange authorities. Government
inspections will also be strengthened to ensure that
measures are implemented in full.
In the Government Work Report this year, Premier Li said
that procedures for setting up foreign-invested enterprises
will be simplified, and business filing and registration
will be processed together.
The Premier said at the meeting that consolidating the
filing and registration procedures for FIEs is a matter of
high priority. He called for all government departments
concerned to fully collaborate and coordinate with each
other in this process to make things easier for FIEs.
Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show that over
35,600 foreign-invested enterprises were set up in 2017, up
27.8 percent year-on-year. And foreign investment rose 7.9
percent over 2016, hitting a record high of 877.5 billion
yuan.
Concrete measures were also adopted at the meeting to
establish a uniform e-platform for accessing government
services and see that things requiring a personal appearance
will get done in one place, without the need for a second
trip.It was decided at the meeting that an e-platform for
accessing interconnected government services at the
national, provincial and city levels will be established.
All government service items will be put on this platform
unless the laws otherwise stipulate or for confidentiality
reasons. The government will stay committed to a unified
e-platform for all government services by connecting the
separate networks, with few exceptions allowed for separate
networks or offline government services. In principle, no
individual department will be allowed to set up an
independent information system.
Standardized procedures will be laid out, and a list of the
items requiring appearance in person will be released, under
which single-window services will be provided to save
applicants the need for a second trip.
¡°Government services are to serve the public, and hence must
be universally accessible. Current technologies have made it
possible to have many things done online,¡± Premier Li said.
¡°What¡¯s important is to introduce a unified e-platform for
all government services by connecting the separate networks.
This should especially be the case for the portal websites
of central government departments.¡±
It was also decided at the meeting that procedures for
accessing government services will be further simplified.
There will be no repeated requirement for materials that can
be shared and reused. Related mechanisms will be amended
promptly in this respect. Electronic licenses will be more
widely introduced, and their reciprocal recognition will be
further promoted.
A uniform platform for data sharing and exchange will be
established. Agencies that fail to connect to government
information systems at different levels will lose their
eligibility for applying for new projects or funding for
technical maintenance.
At least 90 percent of the service items offered by
provincial-level authorities and 70 percent by city and
county-level authorities will be made accessible online
before the end of 2019.
The Premier stressed that standardization is the way to go
in applying the ¡°Internet Plus government services¡± model.
The regulatory authorities for cyber affairs should step up
supervision and oversight.
¡°Information security should always be a high priority.
Efforts must be stepped up to establish the corporate and
individual credit systems and a unified and open government
services system,¡± he said.(May 17,2018) from: english.gov.cn
¡¡

Results released for spot check on govt websitesResults for a spot check on government websites in the
first quarter have been revealed, according to a notice
issued by the State Council on May 16.
The State Council General Office checked 303 websites, 95
percent of which met quality standards. Regional governments
and State Council departments checked 11,639 websites under
their respective administrations, with a pass percentage of
95 also.
In the first quarter, 272 officials were held accountable
for websites which failed to pass the check.
Problems in those unqualified websites included ineffective
management, inconvenient online service, restricted access
for exchange with users, and nonstandard domain names and
logos.
The notice urged regional governments and departments to
resolve the problems unveiled in this check, enhance online
service, streamline access for the public to submit
questions and suggestions, and protect website security.
As of March 1, 2018, the num ber of government websites in
operation in China was 23,269, according to the notice.(May 16,2018) from: english.gov.cn
¡¡

China joins ASEAN countries¡¯ chorus for free tradeJAKARTA ¡ª Premier Li Keqiang on May 7 pledged to jointly
promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation
with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), so
as to inject positive energy into the world economy.
He made the remarks while addressing a celebration ceremony
of the 15th anniversary of the China-ASEAN strategic
partnership at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, capital of
Indonesia.
At the 32nd ASEAN Summit and related meetings held in
Singapore in late April, leaders of ASEAN countries agreed
to work toward an early conclusion this year of the Regional
Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a free trade
agreement (FTA) scheme of the 10 ASEAN member states and its
FTA partners, namely China, Australia, India, Japan, the
Republic of Korea and New Zealand.
In his speech, the Premier also called for substantive
breakthroughs made in the negotiations on the RCEP.
China and ASEAN countries are all beneficiaries of free
trade, Premier Li said, adding that it is in line with their
common interest to safeguard multilateralism and the
international trading system.
China is ready to work with ASEAN countries to promote the
early completion of the RCEP, build the East Asian economic
community and promote trade and investment liberalization
and facilitation, so as to inject positive energy into the
world economy, he said.
He said the importance of cooperation between China and
ASEAN has gone beyond the bilateral scope and has
increasingly become the support and engine for maintaining
regional peace and stability as well as promoting regional
common prosperity.
China has always put ASEAN as a priority for its foreign
policy with neighboring countries and stood for friendly
cooperation with ASEAN, said the Premier.
He said China supports the establishment of the ASEAN
community, supports ASEAN¡¯s central position in regional
cooperation and supports it to play a bigger role in
building an open and inclusive regional framework.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of China¡¯s reform and
opening-up, and the ASEAN also ushered in its second 50-year
period, said Premier Li.
Last month, President Xi Jinping proposed new initiatives
for furthering opening-up at this year¡¯s Boao Forum for Asia
annual conference.
Premier Li said China¡¯s development would bring new and
greater opportunities to all countries in the world
including ASEAN.
China is ready to work with ASEAN to build a closer
community with shared destiny and jointly write a new
chapter in their cooperation, said the Premier.
In his welcome remarks, Secretary-General of ASEAN Lim Jock
Hoi thanked Premier Li for his visit to the ASEAN
Secretariat and his attendance at the Launching Ceremony of
the 15th Anniversary of China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership.
China has always been an important partner of ASEAN, he
said, noting that China¡¯s support has strongly promoted the
integration of ASEAN, helped ASEAN narrow its internal
development gap and deepened the friendship between the
people of the two sides.
ASEAN is willing to work with China to strengthen economic
and trade cooperation, especially in such areas of
innovation and digital economy, so as to achieve common
prosperity and mutual benefit, said Lim.
Congratulating China on its tremendous achievements in
reform and opening-up, Lim said he appreciated China¡¯s
commitment to an open and rules-based multilateral trade
system.
He said he believed that China¡¯s broad prospects for
development will not only benefit the Chinese people but
will also improve the well-being of all people in the
region.
Premier Li launched the ceremony together with Lim and Tan
Hung Seng, the permanent representative of Singapore to
ASEAN. More than 200 participants attended the ceremony.
The Premier arrived in Jakarta on May 6 for an official
visit to Indonesia, the first stop on his first overseas
trip since the new cabinet took office in March.(May 8,2018) from: english.gov.cn
¡¡

China makes greater efforts to improve business environment

China will further improve its business environment by
halving the time required to open a business and start
construction projects, the State Council decided at an
executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on May 2.
According to a decision at the meeting, the length of time
required to start a business in municipalities,
sub-provincial cities and provincial capitals will be
reduced from an average of more than 20 workdays to 8.5 by
the end of the year. This measure will also be introduced in
five leading cities, Dalian, Qingdao, Ningbo, Xiamen and
Shenzhen, with other areas also set to see positive
progress, to be followed by national implementation in the
first half of next year.
Measures to halve the time required for government approval
of construction projects from the current average level of
more than 200 workdays to 120 will be piloted in 15 cities,
including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, and in Zhejiang
province, this year, whereby all government review items and
approval procedures concerning home building and urban
infrastructure will be simplified, optimized and
standardized. This pilot program will be rolled out
nationwide in the first half of next year.
President Xi Jinping emphasized that we must do away with
regulations and practices that impede the development of a
unified market and fair competition, stimulate the vitality
of all market entities and adopt policies to promote
high-standard liberalization and facilitation of trade and
investment.
Premier Li said that a good business environment is part and
parcel of enhancing competitiveness and productivity. ¡°In
spurring economic growth, our focus needs to shift from
investing in projects to improving the business environment.
The key is to press ahead with the reform of government
functions,¡± he said.
An estimate by the World Bank moved China up 65 spots
between 2013 and 2017 in the ranking of ease of starting a
business, and the length of time required was shortened from
33 days to 22.9.
According to a decision at the meeting, the procedures that
a new firm needs to go through to become initially
operational will be further streamlined. The whole business
registration process will be conducted online. Government
approval of business names before registration will no
longer be needed unless specifically required.
The record-filing procedure for official seals will be
included in the reform to integrate different certification
requirements for business registration. Applicants may also
choose their own providers for official seals.
No separate tax registration will be required, and no
separate social insurance registration certificate issued
for companies that have obtained business licenses with
unified social credit codes. The amount of time needed for
invoice application and social insurance registration will
also be reduced.
¡°An enabling business environment that unlocks market
vitality is crucial to achieving sustained, high-quality
development in China. The biggest potential for our
development lies in the vast domestic market and the
creativity of all market entities,¡± Premier Li said.
¡°Reducing government-imposed transaction costs will be the
priority of the reform of government functions going
forward, and there is still a great deal that can be done in
this respect. The government must continue to make
determined efforts to cut red tape, enhance compliance
oversight and provide better services,¡± he said.
To slash the review time for construction projects, the
following measures were decided at the meeting:
First, the number of items subject to government approval
will be further simplified. The record-filing requirement
for construction contracts and building efficiency design
review will be eliminated, and designs for fire control and
civil air defense will be incorporated into the construction
plan documents for review.
The review and approval of a project will no longer be
conditional on environmental impact and energy efficiency,
which will instead be subject to general assessment by the
government.
Second, category-specific management will be introduced. The
approval procedures for privately invested small and
medium-sized construction projects will be simplified. No
government approval will be required for the design plans of
land-use right transfer projects with existing development
plans. For privately invested home building projects, the
project proprietors may decide how to award their own
contracts.
Third, procedures will be streamlined. An interagency
approach with a clear time frame will be adopted for
simultaneous site inspection, mapping, surveying and drawing
inspections by competent authorities in planning, natural
resources and urban utilities. So in the future, the
government will formulate one single checklist laying out
all construction requirements, one single system for
approval and inspection services, one single window for
multiagency services, one single form for application
materials and one single mechanism for rules-based approval.
¡°The rebound in private investment this year has been
encouraging, yet lengthy reviews for construction projects
will drive up corporate costs,¡± Premier Li said.
¡°Reform must be pushed forward by breaking down the
departmental barriers of vested interests. We will advance
these reform measures step by step and keep in mind the
realities on the ground, and work to roll them out
nationwide next year.¡±(May 4,2018) from: english.gov.cn
¡¡

China will roll out fresh tax cuts to aid small businessesChina will make further tax cuts worth over 60 billion
yuan ($9.4 billion) to drive innovation and entrepreneurship
and boost the development of small and micro businesses, a
State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li
Keqiang decided on April 25.
The move aims to reduce the cost for innovation and
entrepreneurship, energize small and micro businesses and
spur job creation.
As part of the efforts to implement blueprints set out by
the Central Economic Work Conference and the Government Work
Report, the annual taxable income threshold of small and
micro businesses eligible for halved income tax will be
raised from 500,000 to 1 million yuan. The per unit value of
newly-purchased R&D instruments and equipment eligible for
one-time tax deduction will be raised from 1 million to 5
million yuan. These two measures will be effective from Jan
1, 2018 to Dec 31, 2020.
President Xi Jinping has stressed that the country needs to
encourage more entities to make innovations and start
businesses and support the innovations by small and
medium-sized enterprises.
¡°We must work hard to cut the cost of the real economy,
bring out the vitality of all market entities by lifting the
discriminatory restrictions and hidden barriers in taxation
and other respects, and see that all the policy incentives
for SMEs and micro businesses are fully delivered,¡± Xi said.
In his Government Work Report delivered in March this year,
Premier Li said that the government will further lighten the
corporate tax burden. Far greater numbers of small,
low-profit businesses will see their income tax halved and
the ceilings on deductible business purchases of instruments
and equipment will be significantly raised. The pilot
preferential tax policies for venture capital investment and
angel investment will be extended nationwide, he said.
According to a decision made at the meeting, the tax
incentive enjoyed by venture capital firms and angel
investors that sees 70 percent of their investment deducted
from the taxable income of the seed and early stage
high-tech startups they finance will be extended nationwide.
The policy has been piloted in the country¡¯s eight
innovation and reform experimental zones, including the
Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, Shanghai and Guangdong, as well
as in the Suzhou Industrial Park. Such tax cuts will be
implemented from Jan 1 for corporate income tax and from
July 1 for personal income tax this year.
The meeting also decided to abolish the preclusion of the
expenses of commissioned overseas R&D from additional tax
deduction. The time limit for the capital loss carryover of
high-tech firms and technological SMEs will be extended from
5 to 10 years, pending approval by the Standing Committee of
the National People¡¯s Congress. All enterprises shall see
the tax deduction for their employee training costs raised
to 8 percent, the same rate as high-tech companies enjoy,
from the current 2.5 percent. These three measures are
effective from Jan 1 this year.
Premier Li said that while this round of tax cuts is
targeted at small and micro businesses to spur innovation,
the whole economy stands to benefit. Though being the
biggest job providers, small and micro businesses have long
had difficulty in accessing affordable financing. Supporting
their development is critical to ensuring employment.
The meeting also adopted measures of stamp duty relief for
books of account starting from May 1.
All the above mentioned measures are expected to reduce the
corporate tax burden by over 60 billion yuan. The move
follows a 400 billion yuan tax cut package for 2018, which
was decided at a State Council executive meeting on March
28.
Premier Li stressed that while the well-established firms
receive due attention, greater support must be extended to
all growth enterprises, including SMEs and micro businesses.
¡°Tax cuts and fiscal input are like the two sides of a coin.
Both can catalyze innovation,¡± he said.
The Premier once again called for full implementation of the
above policies to deliver concrete benefits to all
businesses concerned. (April 27,2018) from: english.gov.cn

First Digital China Summit kicks off in E China

The First Digital China Summit opened in Fuzhou, capital
of East China¡¯s Fujian province, on the morning of April 22,
during which 293 exhibitors will display the latest digital
economy achievements.
With the theme ¡°Facilitating information-driven development
and a digitalized China,¡± the three -day summit will display
the latest achievements in e-government and digital economy,
such as face recognition and voice recognition technologies.
The summit has a main forum and several sub-forums, covering
topics such as e-government, digital economy, smart society,
new smart cities, big data, digital Fujian, digital Maritime
Silk Road and the internet of things.(April 24,2018) from: english.gov.cn

Charges,food among key issues raised

Administrative charges suspended
Some administrative fees, including those for first
identification cards, will be suspended or abolished, said a
joint notice by the Ministry of Finance and the National
Development and Reform Commission.
The notice said citizens, from April 1, would not be charged
for their first ID card. From Jan 1 this year to Dec 31,
2020, institutional supervision fees for securities and
futures were suspended, it said.
Crackdown on private equity fraud
The China Securities Regulatory Commission has cracked down
on 10 cases of illegal activity in private equities,
including eight cases that will be subject to administrative
penalties, the commission said on April 20.
The cases were related to illegal operations, transfers of
benefits, market manipulation and rat trading (using
personal accounts to purchase shares and then selling them
when the fund buys them), the commission said.
Governmental fund system change
To reduce costs for the public and support the real economy,
the Ministry of Finance recently released a notice to lower
the threshold for some governmental funds.
Starting this month, the employment guarantee, where
companies pay a levy to safeguard incomes for disabled
employees, will be lowered to twice the local average
income, from the previous thrice. Starting on July 1,
another 25 percent will be cut from funds collected for the
nation¡¯s major water resource projects. The funds were
previously reduced by 25 percent.
Food sold near schools targeted
A crackdown was launched to tackle substandard food sold
near school campuses, said a recent notice by the State
Administration for Market Regulation.
The notice required that all food sold around campus must
meet safety standards and cannot be additive-laden. All food
workshops without licenses must be closed and any food found
below standard will be removed from shelves, retrieved and
destroyed to avoid potential danger, it added.
New channel to buy train tickets
A new service hotline 12328 was introduced recently to make
it easier to get train tickets.
The public can also use the hotline¡¯s official WeChat
account to buy tickets online. So far, 337 cities around the
country have opened the hotline with functions such as
complaints and consultation for the transport sector.
Tax relief on cash for scientists
Income tax will be lowered for scientists when they get cash
incentives from technological transfers, according to a
State Council executive meeting on April 18.
Only half of the cash incentives will be subject to income
tax when scientists and technicians in nonprofit research
institute and universities are rewarded in the first three
years after their research or patents earned their
institutions profits, according to a statement released
after the meeting, which was presided over by Premier Li
Keqiang.
(April 24,2018) from: english.gov.cn

China aims for mature free trade port system in Hainan
by 2035
BEIJING ¡ª China is aiming to make the free trade port system
and operational mode of Hainan ¡°more mature¡± by 2035,
according to a document unveiled on April 14.
A free trade port system will be ¡°basically established¡± in
Hainan by 2025, according to the guidelines on supporting
Hainan¡¯s efforts to deepen reform and opening up jointly
released by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
China (CPC) and the State Council.
China will also set up an investment fund to support
Hainan¡¯s development of a free trade port.
A free trade port is the world¡¯s most open form of economic
zone, which has brought prosperity to places like Singapore
and Hong Kong thanks to its broad-based preferential
policies on trade and investment.
President Xi Jinping on April 13 announced a decision by the
CPC Central Committee to support building Hainan into a
pilot free trade zone and gradually and steadily into a free
trade port with Chinese characteristics.
China welcomes investors worldwide to invest and start
business in Hainan and participate in the building of a free
trade port there, Xi said at a celebration marking the 30th
anniversary of the establishment of Hainan province and the
Hainan Special Economic Zone.
China will support the ¡°all-round participation¡± of foreign
firms in the development of the Hainan free trade port, and
multinational companies are encouraged to set up
international and regional headquarters there, according to
the document. (April 17,2018)
from: english.gov.cn

China steps toward intelligent manufacturing

Under the theme ¡°An Open and Innovative Asia for a World of
Greater Prosperity¡±, the Boao Forum 2018 opens this weekend
in South China¡¯s tropical Hainan province. In recent years,
Chinese companies have been shifting toward innovation and
exporting high-quality products that meet the rigorous
standards and expectations of global consumers. The
development of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots
signals a dramatic change in the manufacturing sector.
Athletes weren¡¯t the only attraction at the 2018 Winter
Olympics, 24 robots danced to the rhythm during China¡¯s
eight-minute show at the closing ceremony, causing a
sensation in the world of robotics. Head of the design crew,
Zhang Lei, once thought his brief was mission impossible.
¡°The organizing committee and my team were completely
stunned when the director of the eight-minute show revealed
the maneuvers he wanted the robots to perform. We had only
two to three months to prepare everything from scratch,¡±
said Zhang Lei, the head of the design crew from Siasun
Robot & Automation Co Ltd.
The eight minutes in Pyeongchang showcased how much China¡¯s
intelligent manufacturing has progressed in recent years. In
Northeast China¡¯s Shenyang, a city that boasts the country¡¯s
largest robot production base, more of its products are
being deployed to the service sector. While these robots are
mainly having a positive impact, in the reception of one
local electricity center, the manager points out some areas
where there¡¯s still room for improvement.
¡°Sometimes, the robot gets confused in noisy surroundings.
It can mix up the orders of different people. Other than
that, it is doing well, considering the service requirements
and the amount of information it provides to the customers,¡±
Ju Shibo told CGTN.
How do you determine how advanced a country is when it comes
to robotics?
One measure is ¡°robot density,¡± which shows the number of
robots per 10,000 workers. Robots are at the core of the
government¡¯s sweeping ¡°Made in China 2025¡± plan to upgrade
factories and make them highly automated. The country wants
to reach a robot density of 150 units by 2020.
The increase in robot density in China is the most dynamic
in the world, particularly between 2013 and 2016. The
density rate rose from 25 units in 2013 to 68 units in 2016.
Beijing intends to forge ahead and get China into the
world¡¯s top ten automated nations in just two years.
¡°It¡¯s a realistic target, as labor costs are rising in
China, pushing up the cost of manufacturing. Also,
production techniques for robots continue to improve, which
in turn makes the robots more cost-effective,¡± said Wang
Kecheng, a manager of the company.
The ¡°Made in China 2025¡± plan aims to move the country¡¯s
manufacturing sector up the value chain, but some argue the
level of automation required is several steps ahead of
China¡¯s current level. If domestic robot manufacturers hope
to fill the gap, they will no doubt face fierce global
competition. (April 12,2018)
from: english.gov.cn

Hainan given green light for medical tourismThe State Council decided to suspend implementation of
item 2, article 11 of Regulations for the Supervision and
Administration of Medical Devices in the Hainan Boao Lecheng
International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, as a move to
support Hainan¡¯s international medical tourism industries.
According to the decision, if there is an urgent need in the
pilot zone for certain medical devices not legitimately
available in China, the Hainan provincial government can
authorize the imports but those devices must be used in
designated hospitals.
The State Council urges the State Drug Administration,
Hainan provincial government and other relative departments
to stipulate specific regulations on approval conditions and
processes for importing medical devices. (April 10,2018)
from: english.gov.cn

State Council releases regulation on scientific data
management On April 2, the State Council issued a regulation on the
management of scientific data involved in natural science,
engineering and technology, and other science fields.

According to the regulation, research institutions and
scientific data producers should collect scientific data and
build a database and data quality control system based on
relevant standards.

Central and local authorities should establish rules and
regulations while implementing national scientific data
policies. Scientific data centers should be set up by
qualified institutions and supervised by authorities, and
will be responsible for the collection, classification,
processing and analysis of data.

If data produced in government-funded research are used to
write papers and for publication in foreign academic
journals, they should be reported to related scientific data
centers before being published.

The data produced in the research projects funded by private
capital, if involving state secrets, national security and
the public interest, also should be reported.

Data produced through government funding should be open to
the public, except that which involves state secrets,
national security, the public interest, commercial secrets
and individual privacy.

Users of scientific data must abide by regulations on
intellectual property rights and give credit to the
producers of the data.

Authorities and research institutions should strengthen full
life circle security management on scientific data, such as
the authorization and authentication for downloading data.
(April 3,2018) from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

China¡¯s new tax cuts to benefit real economy

BEIJING ¡ª China¡¯s new value-added tax (VAT) reform
measures are expected to reduce the burden on a range of
sectors in the real economy, analysts said.

China will cut VAT rates as part of a tax reduction package
amounting to 400 billion yuan (about $63.6 billion) this
year, according to a decision made at a State Council
executive meeting on March 28.

Starting from May 1, the tax rate will be lowered from 17
percent to 16 percent for manufacturing and some other
industries, and from 11 percent to 10 percent for
transportation, construction, basic telecommunication
services, and farm produce.

While it will be only a one percentage point cut in each tax
bracket, the reduction will impact a wide range of sectors
in the real economy, according to Li Xuhong, a researcher
with Beijing National Accounting Institute, a government
think tank.

It was estimated that the reduction of taxes from lower VAT
rates could reach 240 billion yuan. Li said the estimate was
rather conservative, as tax reduction in the manufacturing
sector alone could reach that amount.

VAT tax cuts in the transportation industry will lower the
logistics costs for the real economy, Li said.

Investment bank China International Capital Corporation (CICC)
estimated that firms in the two tax brackets will see their
VAT tax burden decline by 6 percent and 9 percent,
respectively.

¡°We believe that lower VAT rates will help reduce the prices
of products and services in a number of competitive sectors,
benefiting households and other sectors,¡± CICC said in a
research note.

In addition to the VAT rates cut, the reform also offers tax
incentives for some high-tech companies, a measure that
analysts said is aimed at supporting innovation-driven
growth.

Eligible enterprises in advanced manufacturing, modern
services, and electric utilities will receive a lump-sum
refund for their input VAT payments yet to be deducted.

The measure will have a ¡°far-reaching impact,¡± said Li, as
it could free capital previously frozen on companies¡¯
balance sheets.

However, successful implementation of the refund policy
depends on advanced tax collection measures and the overall
level of honesty of taxpayers across society, Li noted.

The reform also includes measures to unify the standard for
small-scale taxpayers, as it raises the threshold of taxable
annual sales volume for industrial and commercial
enterprises from 500,000 yuan and 800,000 yuan, to 5 million
yuan.

¡°Raising the revenue ceiling to 5 million yuan for
industrial and commercial sectors will help level the
playing field and support the growth of medium and small
firms in all sectors,¡± CICC said.

With all these measures, this year¡¯s VAT reform is more
intensive than last year, CICC said.

The VAT reform was first piloted in Shanghai before it was
rolled out nationwide. It has delivered a total tax cut of
2.1 trillion yuan over the past five years.

¡°We expect the reform to support China¡¯s economic growth in
not only second quarter of 2018, but also the whole year and
the first four months of 2019,¡± CICC said.

For Li, a more challenging job yet to be accomplished is to
further reduce VAT brackets from three to two. In 2017,
China streamlined its VAT brackets from four to three.

China aims to reduce taxes on businesses and individuals by
more than 800 billion yuan this year, according to a
government work report released in March.

While the VAT reform will help accomplish almost half of the
target, policies to cut the remaining 400 billion yuan of
taxes will be released soon, said Wang Jianfan, an official
with the Ministry of Finance. (April 2,2018)
from:english.gov.cn

China to roll out new tax cuts to fuel economic growthChina will cut the value-added tax rates as part of a
tax reduction package amounting to 400 billion yuan ($63
billion) this year to drive high-quality development, a
State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li
Keqiang decided on March 28.

The tax rate for manufacturing will be lowered from 17 to 16
percent, and the rate for transportation, construction,
basic telecommunication services and farm produce from 11 to
10 percent, according to a decision at the meeting.

Premier Li said that VAT reform is a major step in China¡¯s
tax regime reform.

¡°VAT reform has helped reduce the overall corporate tax
burden, and improve the tax regime. The reform has proved to
be conducive to the transformation and upgrading of the
economy, unifying the tax structure and making taxation
fairer,¡± he said.

¡°This round of tax cuts will apply to all manufacturing
companies. All businesses registered in China, be they joint
ventures or wholly foreign owned companies, will be treated
equally,¡± the Premier said.

VAT reform was first piloted in Shanghai before it was
rolled out nationwide in May 2016. It has delivered total
tax cuts of 2.1 trillion yuan over the past five years.

The services sector has expanded significantly as a result.
Its added value rose by 8 percent and accounted for 51.6
percent of GDP in 2017, according to the National Bureau of
Statistics. The reform has also boosted entrepreneurship,
innovation and the development of new industries and new
forms of business. Micro and small firms have been the
biggest beneficiaries in this process.

The Premier said in his Government Work Report earlier this
month that efforts will be made to further lighten the tax
burden on businesses. The government will reform and improve
VAT, consolidate the three tax brackets into two and adjust
tax rates, prioritize lowering rates in manufacturing and
transportation, and raise the threshold for annual sales
volume for small-scale taxpayers.

As part of the tax cut package, eligible enterprises in
advanced manufacturing, modern services and electric utility
will receive a lump-sum refund for their input VAT payments
yet to be deducted.

The meeting also decided to unify the standard for
small-scale taxpayers, raising the threshold of taxable
annual sales volume for industrial and commercial
enterprises from 500,000 yuan and 800,000 yuan to 5 million
yuan. Enterprises registered as general taxpayers will be
allowed to switch their status to small-scale taxpayers
within a given time.

All the tax cuts will take effect starting on May 1.

The Premier said that reducing the three tax rate brackets
to two in one go is a hugely challenging job, as reforms are
normally pursued in small increments. Yet this goal is not
beyond reach.

He stressed that no industry should see its tax burden
increase in the course of VAT reform; this will be the
guiding principle of all related reform measures.
(March29,2018) from:english.gov.cn

Govt issues guidelines promoting region-based tourism The State Council has issued a guideline to promote
region-based tourism, meaning identifying a whole area as a
tourism destination, with unified planning for modern and
quality tourism.

The region-based tourism modes should feature diversity and
environmental protection, the circular added.

The aim is to develop an integrated, quality, regulated
tourism ecosystem that can generate maximum benefit.

The circular stressed efforts to extend tourism in other
fields and industries, including integration with urban
planning to build tourist towns and counties, with
agriculture and forestry for sightseeing agriculture and
forest parks and with technology for development of high-end
healthcare tourism.

The circular also urged exploring cultural traits and
folklore in tourism areas, upgrading quality of traditional
craft art products, and bringing in new technologies for
tourism products.

Entrepreneurship and innovation programs were also
encouraged, and diverse investment entities will be
welcomed.

According to the circular, tourism areas were encouraged to
enhance service quality, build high-quality tourism brands
and introduce intelligent services such as free Wi-Fi and
online booking and payment.

In addition, public facilities should be enhanced. The
circular called for efforts to push ahead the ¡°toilet
revolution¡± and improve transportation network, consultation
service centers in traffic hubs and guideposts.

The circular also urged protecting resources and the
environment, and carrying out poverty-alleviation work by
utilizing potential in tourism resources.

The government should increase policy support in finance,
land use and talent, the circular read.(March
26,2018)from:english.gov.cn

Yingkou port plans to invest 2.5 billion Yuan by the end of
2020 in some other countriesAt present, Yingkou Port is planning to transform from
terminal operator to line integrator, through investment in
logistics nodes along the route, participation in
management, realization of key node control, and enhancement
of the overall operation effect and full service capability
of China- Europe block train ferry. By end of 2020, the
total amount of overseas investment had reached 2.5 billion
Yuan.March21,2018
¡¡

Yingkou city ranked first in processing jellyfish in
Liaoning province last yearYingkou city has actively promoted the deep processing
industry of jellyfish, and the jellyfish brand has achieved
remarkable results. By the end of last year, the processing
volume of jellyfish in our city had reached 90,000 tons,
accounting for about 80% of the total export of processed
jellyfish throughout the whole province. Processing output
in the province ranked first.
(March 19,2018)
¡¡

China
unveils major cabinet reshuffle

BEIJING ¡ª China unveiled a major cabinet reshuffle on
March 13, to make the government better-structured, more
efficient, and service-oriented.

The institutional reform plan of the State Council was
submitted to the ongoing first session of the 13th National
People¡¯s Congress for deliberations.

State Councilor Wang Yong briefed the lawmakers on the plan.

After merging, restructuring, creating and dissolving, there
will be 26 ministries and commissions. Among the new
entities are ministries for natural resources, veterans
affairs, and emergency management.

There will also be new administrations under the State
Council, such as an international development cooperation
agency, a state immigration administration, and a banking
and insurance regulatory commission.

Compared with the current cabinet setup, the number of
ministerial-level entities is reduced by eight and that of
vice-ministerial-level entities by seven.

Wang said the reform, focusing on institutional
restructuring in key areas, would strengthen the
government¡¯s functions on economic management, market
supervision, social management, public service, and
ecological and environmental protection.

¡°It focuses on the needs of development and meets the
people¡¯s expectations,¡± Wang said, adding that the
restructuring formed part of a broader plan by the Communist
Party of China to deepen the reform of the Party and state
institutions.

He said the cabinet reshuffle dealt with the institutional
obstacles to make the market play a decisive role in
resource allocation. The reshuffle will also help China
build a modern economy with high quality growth.

In a big change, a banking and insurance regulatory
commission will be formed to replace the China Banking
Regulatory Commission and the China Insurance Regulatory
Commission.

The move is aimed at solving existing problems such as
unclear responsibilities, cross-regulation and absence of
supervision, Wang said.

The new body will enhance oversight of both banking and
insurance industries and be more effective to forestall
risks in the financial sector.

The international development cooperation agency, to be
formed by merging parts of the functions of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce, will ¡°give
full play to foreign aid as a key means of major-country
diplomacy,¡± Wang said.

A state immigration administration is to be set up under the
Ministry of Public Security to formulate and enforce
immigration rules, as ¡°the number of foreigners working and
living in China has been increasing, raising new
requirements on immigration administration and services,¡±
according to Wang.

People¡¯s welfare will be better protected, with the
establishment of two new ministerial departments devoted to
healthcare and veterans affairs.

The ministry of veterans affairs will protect the rights and
interests of military personnel and their families, improve
the service and management system of demobilized military
personnel, and make military service an occupation that
enjoys public respect.

If passed, the cabinet reshuffle will be the eighth such
move in more than three decades.

Cutting bureaucracy has been a common pursuit of governments
around the world. Beginning 1982, amid its reform and
opening-up push, China began downsizing the central
government about every five years.

Ma Liang, a public administration professor of Renmin
University of China, said cabinet reshuffles throughout the
years aimed to develop a sound, service-oriented
administration able to satisfy the people¡¯s needs. (March 14,2018)from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Two
indicators of Xianrendao Economic Development Zone ranked
first in Yingkou¡¯s key parksA few days ago, Xianrendao Economic Development Zone
held a general meeting to carry out the spirit of
"optimizing the Business Environment and promoting Project
Construction" in our city.
In 2017, the work of Xianrendao Economic Development Zone
was progressing smoothly, showing a good development trend.
There were 13 projects with more than 10 million Yuan under
construction, of which 11 were more than 100 million Yuan.
The total amount of export was 778 million Yuan, the
year-on-year increase is of 61.2%, these show that the two
indicators are ranked the first in the city's key parks.
Become the strategic platform and important economic growth
pole of our city carrying major projects.(March12,2018)

Export
of Xianrendao Energy and Chemical Industry District rose
sharply last year
Last year, Xianrendao energy and chemical industry
district's foreign trade export reached a new high of 778
million Yuan accumulated, exceeding the annual target of 530
million Yuan, and maintaining a rapid growth rate of 61.7%
over the same period last year.(March.8,2018)

Highlights
of Premier¡¯s Government Work Report

Following are the highlights of a government work report
distributed to media ahead of the annual session of the
National People¡¯s Congress (NPC) on the morning of March 5.
OVER PAST FIVE YEARS
¡ª China¡¯ s gross domestic product (GDP) has risen from 54
trillion to 82.7 trillion yuan, registering average annual
growth of 7.1 percent.
¡ª More than 68 million people have been lifted out of
poverty.
¡ª Tourist departures have grown from 83 million to over 130
million.
¡ª Both energy and water consumption per unit of GDP have
fallen more than 20 percent, the release of major pollutants
has been consistently declining, and the number of days of
heavy air pollution in key cities has fallen 50 percent.
¡ª Personal income has increased by an annual average of 7.4
percent, outpacing economic growth and creating the world¡¯s
largest middle-income group.
¡ª More than 66 million new urban jobs have been added, and
the country, with its population of over 1.3 billion, has
achieved relatively full employment.

MAJOR TARGETS FOR 2018
¡ª GDP growth of around 6.5 percent
¡ª CPI increase of around 3 percent
¡ª Over 11 million new urban jobs, the surveyed urban
unemployment rate within 5.5 percent, and the registered
urban jobless rate within 4.5 percent
¡ª Basic parity in personal income growth and economic growth
¡ª A steady rise in import and export volumes, and a basic
equilibrium in the balance of payments
¡ª A drop of at least 3 percent in energy consumption per
unit of GDP, and continued reductions in the release of
major pollutants
¡ª Substantive progress in supply-side structural reform,
basically stable macro leverage, and systematic and
effective prevention and control of risk

WHAT ELSE TO DO THIS YEAR
¡ª This year¡¯s deficit as a percentage of GDP is projected to
be 2.6 percent, 0.4 percentage point lower than last year.
¡ª Cut steel production capacity by around 30 million metric
tons and coal production capacity by approximately 150
million metric tons.
¡ª Reduce taxes on businesses and individuals by more than
800 billion yuan.
¡ª This year will see 732 billion yuan invested in railway
construction and around 1.8 trillion yuan invested in
highway and waterway projects; the scale of investment in
ongoing water conservancy projects will reach 1 trillion
yuan.
¡ª The general manufacturing sector will be completely opened
up, and access to sectors like telecommunications, medical
services, education, elderly care, and new-energy vehicles
will be expanded.
¡ª Actively expand imports, host the first China
International Import Expo, and lower import tariffs on
automobiles, some everyday consumer goods, and so on.
¡ª Promote the peaceful growth of cross-Strait relations on
the basis of the 1992 Consensus, and advance China¡¯s
peaceful reunification.
¡ª Promote coordination and cooperation among major
countries, deepen friendships and achieve common development
with our neighbors, and enhance unity and cooperation with
other developing countries.
¡ª Ensure the success of the annual conference of the Boao
Forum for Asia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Summit, the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.(March.07,2018) from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Reforms are needed to improve top-level dealing with issues
concerning the long-term development of the IPR case trials,
and to adapt to changes in the international environment;
judicial protection of IPR cases must be improved, according
to a document released by the General Office of the
Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the
General Office of the State Council.

¡°An open mind is in need as reform must be made based on
China¡¯s national conditions, while respecting international
rules and learning from successful experiences of global
cases,¡± the document said.

The detailed measures include building a compensation system
for IPR infringement, stepping up creation of IPR courts and
intensifying construction of IPR trial talent.

In 2016, Chinese courts handled 152,072 IPR cases, up 16.8
percent year on year. Over 3,700 people were arrested and
7,000 prosecuted, according to an IPR protection white
paper.
(March.02,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Yingkou
Port Cross-Border E- Commerce Direct Mail launchedAccording to news on February 17th, after the first
batch of 52 cross-border e-commerce direct mail packages
transferred by sea through Yingkou port were scanned in
turn, customs were cleared successively through the
automated inspection and sorting lines. Yingkou port
cross-border e-commerce business "Direct Mail by Sea" was
officially launched. Which is to be became the second
seaborne direct mail port in Northeast China.(Feb.22,2018)

Spending
Smart: Millennials to fuel China¡¯s sharing economy

Young people in their 20s and 30s are rapidly becoming
the backbone of China¡¯s widening spending power. Known as
millennials, they are more open to new ideas and business
models. They are also expected to help shape the future of
the sharing economy.

Chinese millennials were born when China started to have
more access to global markets. They are more eager to spend
on experiences than on possessions. They share everything
from bikes and homes to clothes and power banks.

¡°This new generation of consumers looks for information on
the internet rather than in the library, and the information
comes to them. The sharing economy meets their needs and
it¡¯s very easy and very fast,¡± said venture capitalist
Maggie Tan.

Besides bike sharing and apartment rentals, fashion rentals
have emerged because of the booming sharing economy. Y
Closet is a Beijing-based rental platform that doles out
women¡¯s apparel and accessories. The company targets stylish
young people with big dreams and small budgets.

¡°These young millennials do not want to follow the crowd.
They want to have their own styles. But they¡¯re usually
limited with their incomes,¡± said Doris Ke, marketing
director of Y Closet. ¡°They¡¯re actually our core customers.¡±

Y Closet completed a 50-million-dollar fundraising round
last year that was led by Alibaba, Softbank and Sequoia
Capital. Now, the company teamed up with Taobao, China¡¯s
largest e-commerce platform.

The sharing economy is booming in China. When a good idea
emerges, attention will be gathered and capital will rush
in. But many players could not even survive their very first
year.

¡°Last year, I looked at over 200 sharing economy projects.
But to be honest, over 99 percent of them do not exist
anymore,¡± said Tan.

How to keep a new idea in sharing economy from this curse of
a short life span? Tan suggested two key elements for
success: Technology and real demand.

Millennials¡¯ flexible, minimalist and sustainable living
styles are expected to help fuel China¡¯s sharing economy in
the coming years, while block chain and the internet of
things is driving the sector in terms of technology. But
analysts say that 2018 will still be a crossroad for the
sharing economy because the new technologies still need to
mature.(Feb.22,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

State
Council promotes separation of business operation permits,
licenses in Shanghai

The reform of separating business operation permits from
business licenses is to be further promoted in Shanghai
Pudong New Area, according to an approval released by the
State Council.

A specific work plan was also released, covering the reform
in 10 areas: business system, medicine and medical
instruments, investment and construction engineering,
transportation, permission management of pawnshops,
agriculture, medical and healthcare, quality supervision,
culture and tourism, and supervision and service.

The work plan asks related pilot work leaders to assume
responsibility, and coordinate and solve any problems.
Education and training should be enhanced for related staff
members. Policy introduction is necessary as it can help
people and enterprises get better accustomed to the changes.
Unclear work division should be avoided. Supervision and
evaluation of the pilot work should be carried out.
Successful results should be promoted and duplicated.

The work plan is aimed at effectively defining the functions
of business operation permits and business licenses,
exploring new technology, new industry, new modes and new
products, and promoting an inclusive and deliberate
supervision system.

It will also encourage system innovation and government
function transformation, and break the systematic barriers
restricting enterprises and individuals. Fair market
competition is promoted for a better business environment,
and help the development of new driving forces. Market
vitality and social creativity are to be fully stimulated to
spur economy development.(Feb.12,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

China¡¯s
rural transportation network to grow stronger Winding roads, inaccessible spots and muddy fields have
long been the most impressive memories for us traveling in
China¡¯s remote and rural areas. But that was before the 18th
Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress, held in
Beijing in 2012. If you look at the picture of those places
now, you can see a difference and changes could be seen
everyday.

Great breakthroughs have been made in transportation reform
since the 18th CPC National Congress. The Ministry of
Transport says it regards the construction of ¡°Sihao Rural
Roads¡± as an important vehicle for completing the building
of a moderately prosperous society.

Transport Minister Li Xiaopeng reported that at present, the
network of rural roads in the country has reached 3.96
million kilometers. He noted that over 99 percent of
townships and 98 percent of established villages were built
with asphalt roads and cement roads, and equipped with
buses. Poorly constructed roads are a thing of the past.
Instead, paved roads and bus services are part of the real
lives of 600 million farmers in China.

Remarkable as China¡¯s achievements in transportation,
there¡¯s still much room for improvements in terms of
infrastructure construction, services and governance.

Li told the press that even though China is a major
transport country, it is only big, not strong. There¡¯s still
a long way to go before becoming a powerful transport
country. The infrastructure is not good enough, our services
cannot fully meet the needs of the people, our logistics are
not yet developed, and the costs in logistics are still
relatively high.

Making China a stronger country in terms of transportation
is a new goal for the government. Li said that the
authorities will try hard to build a modern transportation
system. ¡°We will build this system with open integration,
sharing governance, green wisdom, civilization and
trustworthiness.¡±

The government plans to achieve the basic goal of becoming a
¡°strong transport country¡± from 2020 to 2035, and to
comprehensively achieve that goal from 2036.(Feb.11,2018)
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Results
of Q4 govt website inspection issued The State Council released a circular on the results of
a nationwide inspection of government websites conducted in
the fourth quarter of 2017.
As of Dec 1, 24,820 government websites were in operation,
including 1,961 affiliated with State Council departments
and 32 provincial-level government portal websites.
The State Council¡¯s general office conducted a random
inspection of 460 websites, of which 95 percent were
qualified. It¡¯s worth noting that the websites of Beijing,
Tianjin, Hainan, and the Xinjiang Production and
Construction Corps were rated as 100 percent qualified over
four consecutive quarters.
All provincial regions and 71 departments of the State
Council selected 12,336 websites under their respective
administrations, which accounted for 50 percent of
government websites with a 96 percent total qualification
rate.
Valid messages via platforms for people to mention errors on
government websites totaled 14,208 in the fourth quarter,
among which 99 percent were answered. For 25 websites
selected from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region,
Shanghai, Hunan, the Ministry of Public Security and the
Ministry of Environmental Protection, the figure reached 100
percent.
Also during the same period, 116 officials were punished or
received warnings for running unqualified websites.
In 2017, all regions and departments had inspected 43,139
government websites at all levels. A total of 21,513
websites with poor maintenance were integrated or migrated
and 625 officials were held accountable for the substandard
websites.
Some problems surfaced in the process, such as unregulated
domain names and logos, lack of overall rectification
measures, poor interactions with netizens and insufficient
security control.
Based on the results of the inspection, the circular urged
more efforts to supervise government websites and to provide
better government services online.
Regions and departments at all levels should enhance regular
website supervision, operationalize correction measures,
better interact with netizens to address their concerns, and
improve security mechanisms to ensure government websites
are safe and reliable.(Feb. 8,2018 )
from:english.gov.cn
¡¡

Promoting the Construction of Comprehensive bonded area in
an All-round wayYingkou held a Party-government Meeting, had a special
research on the construction and operation of Yingkou
Comprehensive Bonded Zone. Zhao Changfu and Yu Gongbin
attended the meeting and delivered speeches.(Jan.29,2018)

Premier:
Government Work Report should stand for social consensus
¡°The government, whether in its policymaking or
implementation, must stand for social consensus and try its
best to enhance reasonableness and democracy in its
policies,¡± Premier Li Keqiang said Jan 24 at a symposium.
The symposium was held to solicit advice from leaders of
democratic parties and the All-China Federation of Industry
and Commerce, as well as those without party affiliation.
He acknowledged that the symposium is a significant practice
of socialist deliberative democracy and a step for the State
Council to be subject to democratic supervision.
After the guests gave their opinions and advice, the Premier
said, ¡°Your advice is very important. It can represent, to a
great extent, social consensus and the people¡¯s will. The
Government Work Report should include your feedback as much
as possible.¡±
He also appreciated the support and help from the three
groups. ¡°Over the past five years, you have conducted
research on some major issues concerning socioeconomic
development and made many insightful suggestions. I and
other members of the State Council have read them all and
forwarded them to relevant departments.¡±
Noting that this year marks the 40th anniversary of China¡¯s
reform and opening-up policy, Premier Li said that making
new accomplishments would be one of the best ways to honor
the basic State policy.
The Premier urged that more efforts should be made to
promote high-quality development and establish a modern
economic system. Practical measures should be taken to
deepen reform and opening-up, enhance creativity and
competitiveness, and ensure better lives and well-being for
the people.
He stressed that the Government Work Report should ensure
that it reflects the best common desires of the people.
Premier Li encouraged the three groups to continue playing
an active role in political consultation and democratic
oversight, to give their consistent support and help the
government meet the social development and economic growth
targets. (Jan.29,2018)
from:english.gov.cn

Made in China 2025 roadmap updatedChina aims to become the world¡¯s leading manufacturer of
telecommunication, railway and electrical power equipment by
2025, as the country ramps up its implementation of the Made
in China 2025 strategy, according to a new roadmap released
on Jan 26.
Qu Xianming, an expert involved in drafting the updated
version of the Made in China 2025 technology roadmap, said
China has already made great strides in the above three
areas, but more efforts are needed to crack the bottlenecks
of key components in order to achieve global supremacy.
¡°It is not just about production capacity. Instead, we aim
to become No 1 in research and development, as well as the
application of these products,¡± said Qu, an expert with the
National Manufacturing Strategy Advisory Committee, an
organization that advises the government on plans to upgrade
the manufacturing sector.
According to Qu, home appliances, petroleum refining
equipment and construction machinery are also likely to be
added into the key areas of Made in China 2025.
¡°It is still under discussion. But if they are added to the
list, the central government will roll out measures to
assist their development,¡± Qu added.
The first version of the Made in China 2025 technology
roadmap was published in 2015. It was designed to guide
local governments and enterprises in their manufacturing
investment and other business decisions.
But the past two years have witnessed new ideas and
technologies pop up, demanding an updated technology roadmap
to reflect the new trends and problems in the manufacturing
industry.
Xin Guobin, vice-minister of industry and information
technology, said China has already become one of the world¡¯s
largest producers of more than 220 types of products.
¡°But we are still facing big challenges in producing
reliable core components, and many products are still
mid-tier to low-end. We hope the roadmap can serve as
guidance for companies to cultivate innovation and upgrade
their plants,¡± Xin said.
According to the updated roadmap, China¡¯s homegrown
robotics, high-end automation and new energy vehicles
industries are all likely to rank No 2 or No 3 globally by
2025.
But China will still lag behind some foreign countries in
the fields of semiconductors, operating systems and
industrial software at that time.
(Jan.29,2018)
from:english.gov.cn

China to
beef up quality certification system
To boost supply-side structural reform and administrative
streamlining, China is stepping up efforts to boost quality
by enhancing the quality certification system and quality
management, according to a circular recently released by the
State Council.
As a basic principle, a unified and top-level plan is
required, with no possibility for industry monopoly or
market barriers. The market should play a decisive role in
supply and demand with governmental guidance.
Meanwhile, compulsory and voluntary certification should be
combined to call up efforts from all walks of life to
enhance quality management.
These efforts are aimed at building a sound quality
certification system in three to five years, with improved
quality in primary products, projects, services, consumer
goods and food, and some internally competitive brands.
International advanced quality management standards will be
adopted, such as the new ISO 9001. Companies should be
encouraged to enhance quality management using these
standards, which are to be introduced throughout the
industry and social governance.
Governments at all levels are expected to employ the quality
management system to transform their management styles with
better administration efficiency and credibility.
Efforts will be made to spread the quality certification
system to different enterprises with necessary and
compulsory certification in place for products concerning
security, health, and environment under the rules of the
World Trade Organization.
The quality of new technologies, products and business
models should be supervised in an inclusive but prudent way
in order to foster new economic drivers and bolster
industrial transformation.
Apart from the unified certification system, other redundant
certifications and related charges should be cleaned up.
Certification institutions should provide an integrated
solution from test to certification, to lower costs for
enterprises.
Moreover, a supervision system involving different parties
will be enhanced, and international cooperation is
encouraged for mutual recognition of quality certification.
(Jan.29,2018)
from:english.gov.cn

China
to uproot ¡®protective umbrellas¡¯ of organized crimeBEIJING
¡ª A document issued on Jan 24 stressed that a campaign on
organized crime should involve fighting corruption,
including lower-level corrupt officials, and deal with
¡°protective umbrellas¡± of gang crime.
Disciplinary agencies should punish Communist Party of China
(CPC) members involved in gang crime in disciplinary
supervision and inspection, according to the document
released by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council.
The document said that disciplinary agencies and political
and legal bureaus should find and tackle the corruption
behind gang crime.
Disciplinary agencies at all levels should deal with
¡°protective umbrellas¡± and investigate no matter who is
involved.
Organized crime is deeply interwoven with corruption and
cases related to poverty reduction should be given the
highest attention. (Jan.29,2018)
from:english.gov.cn

China to make cities safer
BEIJING ¡ª China unveiled a guideline to push for safe
development of cities, as some major accidents in cities
caused great casualties and property loss in recent years on
Jan 7.
The country must uphold the vision of making development
people-centered and never seek development at the cost of
safety, according to the guideline made public by the
general offices of the Communist Party of China Central
Committee and the State Council.
By 2020, China aims to achieve ¡°noticeable progress¡± in safe
urban development, and create a number of demonstration
cities in line with the objectives for becoming a moderately
prosperous society in all respects, the guideline said.
By 2035, the country should put in place an improved system
for safe urban development and create safe cities that are
in line with the requirements for basically realizing
socialist modernization, it added.
With the acceleration of China¡¯s urbanization, the
population, functions and sizes of Chinese cities have been
expanding rapidly, but safety hazards are also on the rise
as cities become more complicated.
At the end of 2016, the ratio of permanent urban residents
to total population stood at 57.35 percent, up from 52.57
percent at the end of 2012, data from the National Bureau of
Statistics showed.
The country must raise the capability of ensuring urban
safety and prevent major accidents to create a sound
environment for people¡¯s lives and work, according to the
guideline.
The notion of safe development should be reflected in making
plans for cities, including those for urban social and
economic development and for disaster prevention and relief.
For residential areas, commercial areas, development zones,
industrial parks and port areas, safety must be the
prerequisite in determining their spatial layouts, the
guideline said.
Safety-related laws, regulations and standards should be
improved to raise the country¡¯s ability to ward off risks
and ensure the safe functioning of urban facilities, it
said.
¡°Safety must be put in the first place in urban
infrastructure construction,¡± according to the guideline.
China should push forward the construction of
multi-functional underground pipeline corridors in an
orderly manner, and reinforce the safety supervision of the
construction and operation of transport, water, drainage,
heating, natural gas and other infrastructure projects.
China should also strengthen safety risk control by
thoroughly identifying urban safety risks, building a risk
information management platform and drawing a map for the
distribution of such risks in four tiers, with red
representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and
blue.
The screening and overhaul of urban safety hazards will be
standardized by further improving the mechanism for the
identification, registration and supervision of major
sources of dangers, building a database for dynamic
management and raising the online supervision capacity, the
guideline said.
Emergency management and rescue capabilities will be
reinforced, as the country will pursue fast, scientific and
effective rescue efforts, improve the emergency rescue
management in cities and push for information sharing and
coordination of different departments.
The guideline also detailed measures on raising the
country¡¯s safety supervision efficiency, making cities
better at ensuring safety and improving leadership and
coordination. (Jan.12,2018) from:english.gov.cn

Consumer inflation stays within target in 2017China¡¯s consumer inflation increased by 1.6 percent last
year, lower than the yearly control target of 3 percent.
Analysts said it will moderately rise by over 2 percent this
year, but will not trigger any major monetary policy
adjustment.
The Consumer Price Index accelerated to 1.8 percent in
December, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on its
website.
Weakening food prices are a major contributor to the fall in
CPI inflation last month, Sheng Guoqing, a senior
statistician of the NBS, said in a statement. Non-food price
rises are the main cause of the overall growth, he said.
Whole-year CPI growth came in at 2 percent in 2016,
according to the NBS. China set the control target of 3
percent last year.
Looking ahead, the consumer inflation rate could surge in
February, in which the Spring Festival falls, analysts said.
The seven-day holiday for the festival generally boosts
consumption and consumer prices.
Zhu Jianfang, chief economist at CITIC Securities, said CPI
growth could reach 3 percent in February and the whole-year
reading could rise to 2.5 percent this year.
Huatai Securities forecast in a research note that average
CPI growth could be around 2.5 percent this year. If
international oil prices rose to about $75 a barrel, China¡¯s
inflation could reach 3 percent, it said.
¡°The expected high CPI reading in February could have a
short-term impact on monetary policymaking and the financial
market,¡± Zhu said.
But for the whole year, moderate CPI growth will not have a
major bearing on the current monetary policy stance, said
Yan Ling, analyst with China Merchants Securities. Yan
forecast whole-year CPI growth of 2.3 percent.
Monetary policy will become neutral this year, analysts
said.
¡°This year¡¯s (financial) regulatory focus will be on
prevention of risks and cutting leverage,¡± according to a
Haitong Securities research note.
China¡¯s Producer Price Index, which gauges factory-gate
prices and is a major indicator of business health, rose 4.9
percent from a year earlier in December, compared with 5.8
percent in November. It is the slowest growth in 13 months.
The PPI decline is attributable to the weakening price
growth in such sectors as oil and gas exploration, ferrous
and non-ferrous metals, and coal mining and washing, which
had bolstered the strong growth of PPI in previous months.
For the whole of 2017, PPI rose by 6.3 percent, compared
with a drop of 1.4 percent for 2016, reversing the trend of
continual PPI decline since 2012. (Jan.12,2018) from:english.gov.cn

China steps up taxation reformAccording to the State Administration of Taxation, in
2017, taxation issues were mentioned during 24 of 34 State
Council executive meetings, including optimization of the
taxation system, tax relief, and further improvements in the
business environment. This clearly demonstrates that tax
occupies an exceedingly important place in governance.
Optimization of taxation system
Value-added tax (VAT) reform was a major concern of the
State Council in 2017, for which a succession of
arrangements were made, covering streamlining VAT rates,
formulating detailed plans, legalizing VAT reform by
abolishing business tax regulations, and introducing
regulations in environmental protection, among others.
Taxation reform injects tremendous momentum into the
development of market economy and plays a significant part
in market regulation, economic restructuring, and the
upgrading of drivers, said Yue Shumin, a professor at the
School of Finance of Renmin University.
Tax relief
Tax relief is also a task of great importance, a key vehicle
for a slew of economic policies, including mass
entrepreneurship and innovation, sharing economy
facilitation, and Made in China 2025.
The implementation work of tax cuts, based on actual
conditions, was fulfilled by taxation authorities at all
levels, bolstering economic restructuring and safeguarding
people¡¯s well-being, said Yang Zhiyong, a researcher at the
National Academy of Economic Strategy of the Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences.
Further improvements in business environment
Streamlining multiple certificates into one has been in full
swing since April, for which the State Council stepped up
related legalization and policies in a bid to uphold
fairness and equity in the business environment.
In addition, taxation reform also acts as a capable driver,
highlighting streamlining administration and delegating
power while improving regulation, and enhancing public
services. This will boost the construction of an
internationalized and market-driven business environment
that is fully regulated by the law, said Li Wanfu, head of
the tax administration¡¯s Taxation Research Center.
(Jan.11,2018) from: english.gov.cn
¡¡

Laws and regulations for FTZs to be temporarily adjustedThe State Council has decided to adjust some laws and
regulations adapted to China¡¯s Free Trade Zones (FTZs), in a
bid to better implement the opening-up and reform policies
in the zones.
Eleven administrative regulations, including the ship
registration rules, two State Council circulars on domestic
urban rail transit equipment and city rapid rail transit and
another two documents on industries for foreign investment
and foreign investment in aviation industry, will be
temporarily adjusted in the FTZs, according to the State
Council decision.
It also urged related departments and governments of the 11
provincial regions where the free trade zones are
established, such as Shanghai Municipality, Fujian, Zhejiang
and Henan provinces, to adjust local related laws and
regulations to adapt to the changes made by the central
government.(Jan.11,2018) from:english.gov.cn

President Xi delivers New Year speech vowing resolute reform
in 2018President Xi Jinping delivers a New Year speech to
extend New Year greetings to all Chinese, and best wishes to
friends all over the world, in Beijing, capital of China,
Dec 31, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua]
BEIJING ¡ª President Xi Jinping delivered a New Year speech
on Dec 31, vowing that China would resolutely carry out
reform in 2018.
¡°We will take the opportunity of celebrating the 40th
anniversary of the reform and opening-up in 2018 to further
carry out reform, as reform and opening-up is the path we
must take to make progress in contemporary China and to
realize the Chinese dream,¡± Xi said.
He cited a Chinese adage, saying that the Chinese people
would ¡°cut paths through mountains, and build bridges across
rivers¡± to move forward on reform.
He extended New Year greetings to all Chinese, and best
wishes to friends all over the world.
Xi said the year 2018 marked the first year of fully
implementing ¡°the spirit of the 19th National Congress of
the Communist Party of China,¡± which outlines China¡¯s
desired development blueprint over the next three decades.
¡°Building a high-rise begins with mounds of soil,¡± Xi said,
borrowing an ancient Chinese phrase to urge his fellow
Chinese to take a step-by-step approach and work hard to
turn the blueprint into a reality.
Xi said that by 2020 all rural residents living below the
current poverty line should have been lifted out of poverty.
It will be the first time in China¡¯s thousands of years of
history that extreme poverty is eliminated.
¡°It is our solemn promise,¡± Xi said. ¡°Only three years are
left to 2020. Every one of us must be called to action, do
our best, take targeted measures to secure victories one
after another.¡±
¡°This is a great cause, important to both the Chinese nation
and humanity. Let¡¯s do it together and make it happen,¡± he
said.
Xi said China¡¯s great achievement of development was made by
the people and for the people, and that among the people¡¯s
most pressing concerns were education, employment, income,
social security, healthcare, elderly care, housing and
environmental protection.
The President admitted that there were areas where the
government¡¯s work fell short of expectations. Though
progress has been made, he said, issues of public concern
remain.
¡°That is why we should strengthen our sense of
responsibility, and do a good job of ensuring the people¡¯s
well-being,¡± Xi said. ¡°The well-being of our people is the
Party and the government¡¯s greatest political achievement.
Our cadres should put the people¡¯s state of living at the
heart, and help them live a better life.¡±
On international affairs, Xi said the world expected to hear
China¡¯s stance and attitude on issues concerning peace and
development.
¡°As a responsible major country, China has something to
say,¡± Xi said.
¡°China will resolutely uphold the authority and status of
the United Nations, actively fulfill China¡¯s international
obligations and duties, remain firmly committed to China¡¯s
pledges to tackle climate change, actively push for the Belt
and Road Initiative, and always be a builder of world peace,
contributor of global development and keeper of
international order,¡± he said. ¡°The Chinese people are ready
to chart out a more prosperous and peaceful future for
humanity, with people from other countries.¡± (Jan.02,2018) from:english.gov.cn

Economy to remain stable through 2018
China¡¯s economic growth results are expected to remain
stable not only in 2017 economic reports yet to be released
but also in 2018, despite a slight decline in a major index
measuring the expansion of the manufacturing sector in
December, analysts said.
While there is some variation in the forecast, analysts said
the country¡¯s GDP growth may register up to 6.9 percent for
2017.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers index,
released on Dec 31, dropped to 51.6 in December, compared
with 51.8 in November, according to the National Bureau of
Statistics.
Still, the index remained comfortably above the 50-point
mark that separates growth from contraction, with numbers
above 50 indicating expansion.
¡°The manufacturing sector is stable and improving, a trend
that has become more entrenched,¡± Zhao Qinghe, a senior NBS
statistician, said in a statement.
The annual average reading of the index for 2017 was 51.6,
which is 1.3 points higher than in 2016.
¡°The December reading dropped a little bit, but it still
reached the annual average level, indicating that expansion
of the manufacturing sector remains strong,¡± Zhao said.
As seen in PMI changes in 2017, the trend of an improving
economy has become more obvious, said Chen Zhongtao, an
analyst at China Logistics Information Center.
¡°The PMI has remained above 51 and even exceeded 52 in
September. The overall trend is stable, with only small
monthly fluctuations,¡± he said.
Based on the average monthly reading of PMI, Chen said
China¡¯s GDP growth could reach about 6.9 percent in 2017.
Growth in the fourth quarter could reach 6.7 percent and the
whole-year growth could be 6.8 percent, said Li Chao, an
analyst at Huatai Securities.
China achieved GDP growth of 6.9 percent for the first
three-quarters. Analysts generally predicted that growth
could dip in the fourth quarter as the effect of
environmental protection measures and slowing property sales
growth unfolded.
Growth in China¡¯s services industry picked up in December,
an official survey showed on Dec 31, as the sector continued
to show solid expansion.
NBS also said that China¡¯s official nonmanufacturing PMI
rose to 55 in December, up from 54.8 in November.
The services sector accounts for over half of China¡¯s
economic growth, and analysts said the strong
nonmanufacturing sector expansion, together with the
manufacturing expansion, will contribute to the stable GDP
growth this year.
The nonmanufacturing index reading has remained above 54 in
2017 except in August.
Qu Qing, an analyst at Hua Chuang Securities, said the
construction sector has helped bolster the index, indicating
that infrastructure investment remains stable, which will
help boost overall economic growth in 2018.
Despite its stable economic growth trend, China also faces
some challenges, such as an increase in raw materials prices
and rising corporate costs, said Chen of China Logistics
Information Center.(Jan.02,2018)
from: english.gov.cn